Healthcare
Morbidity and Mortality of Statutory Versus Private Health Insurance Patients in Cardiac Surgery in Germany and a Critical Appraisal of the Current Health Insurance Situation
By Tsegmid P, Schröter F, Sido V and 3 others.
Abstract
Background
In all, 90% of patients in Germany are insured with statutory (SHI) instead of private health insurance (PHI). PHI offers significantly better benefits including earlier and more comprehensive diagnosis and therapy, which can reduce the complication rate and even mortality in fields where patients with high morbidity are treated, yet data on potential outcome differences between SHI and PHI patients in Germany is scarce.
Methods
Between January 2023 and December 2025, 144 PHI and 2094 SHI patients underwent heart surgery at one institution. Preoperative baseline characteristics, risk factors, and peri- and postoperative information, including the surgeon's experience level and distance of the referring hospital, were retrospectively compared. In addition, a propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was performed.