People without health insurance will continue to have a reliable point of contact in Bonn in the future. The Bonn City Council has now decided that the Anonymous Health Insurance Certificate project will be funded by the City of Bonn for a further three years. A total of 995,539 euros is required for this. The funding will cover the period from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2027. In addition, the possibility of permanent funding as a voluntary service of the city will be discussed as part of the budget deliberations.

"The Council's approval is good news for the AKSB association and, of course, for all those people who, for various reasons, do not have regular health insurance," says Mayor Katja Dörner. "With the further funding, the city of Bonn is continuing its efforts to implement the human right to healthcare," she continued.

An estimated 5,000 people in Bonn do not have access to adequate healthcare. This mainly affects undocumented or homeless people as well as people without health insurance or with limited entitlement to benefits because they owe contributions. Unemployed citizens from European Union member states are also frequently affected.

With this decision, the council followed the recommendation of the city administration. The project, implemented by the Anonymer Krankenschein Bonn (AKSB) association and supported by the Office for Social Affairs and Housing and the Health Department, has been running since autumn 2021. The focus is on the so-called clearing house, where those affected can go for help, advice and to clarify their entitlements. Funding the project by the city of Bonn makes economic sense in view of the numerous transitions into the regular social systems.

The rate of patients that the AKSB has been able to integrate into mainstream care is more than 30%, which is more than twice as high as assumed before the project was launched. This means that the healthcare that the AKSB can offer its patients is not only barrier-free, but also economically advantageous. For the affected people themselves, the step out of "illegality" and precarious living conditions means a great increase in quality of life.