The Social Association VdK is planning to take a legal action against the financing of the hospital reform by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and potentially get the decision annulled by the Federal Constitutional Court.
VdK President Verena Bentele told the Funke Media Group (Saturday editions) that “good healthcare that is for everyone must also be paid for by everyone. The fact that 25 billion euros for the hospital reform are only to be financed by the contributions of the statutorily insured is not only unfair, but a constitutional misuse of insured funds.”
The hospital reform law, which came into effect in December, aims to alleviate financial pressure on hospitals and promote specialization. It is planned that over the next ten years, 50 billion euros will flow in, with the federal states and the statutory health insurance funds each contributing half.
The VdK, however, considers this to be unconstitutional and argues that the contributions of the insured are subject to special protection and can only benefit the statutorily insured. On the other hand, the reform also benefits privately insured individuals and members of other healthcare systems. Therefore, the reform should be fully financed by the state. VdK President Bentele told the Funke titles, “Who needs help, gets help. That’s good too. Whoever has an accident or is seriously ill, goes to the hospital and gets treated – regardless of whether one is statutorily or privately insured.”
It is now planned that VdK members will file appeals against the contribution notices of their health insurance funds, which will lead to proceedings in the social courts and then be taken up by the higher instances until the Federal Constitutional Court.