The German ministry of health has issued details on recent and estimated future costs of the health care smart card project in response to a parliamentary inquiry, initiated by the Liberal Democrats within Germany. The party had 34 questions, most of which related either to security issues or to the costs of the ongoing smart card project.
According to the ministry of health, the annual budget of the German health-IT organization in charge of the program Gematik has almost tripled, from €26m in 2006 to an estimated €70m in 2008. This was considered the first official release of the budget since the project began.
The biggest share of costs for the smart card project is not from the health-IT organization Gematik, but because of the health insurance companies, according to e-Health Europe. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/secureidnews-4.gif)
