Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Shortfall Story

One of the little unknown things which journalists have avoided discussing for a long time in Germany....is the financial woes of healthcare insurance companies, within this Coronavirus period.

So today, an article came up from the opinion of the companies via ARD (public TV in Germany).  Yes, they are in a shortage of cash.  So rather than 'rob' the private citizen....they want a grant from the federal government. 

First, lets be honest and admit up front.....that the German federal government usually coughs up around 14-billion Euro a year.....to cover the shortfalls (even before Covid-19 came along.  More or less 18-billion dollars, which is a fair sum of money.

How much is the shortfall at this point?  Unknown.  We aren't even at the half-way point yet, and the sum is a 'floating' amount.  If the sum was normally a 14-billion Euro shortfall.....you'd have to assume that 14 plus half of that....so it might be up into the 21 billion Euro range. 

The chief problem?  Well....less tax revenue for 2020, and that means the revenue bucket will be awful light to start with.  If you wanted a reason to get back to work, and getting manufacturing back to full-capacity.....this would be one big reason.

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