Despite the German federal audit office reporting additional spending of €2.9 billion, it finds no reduction in waiting times for doctor appointments. In a report sent to the Bundestag’s Budget Committee on February 5, the audit office confirmed that health insurers had paid an extra €2.9 billion through the appointment service and supply act (Terminservice- und Versorgungsgesetz, TSVG) to improve access to care, but the evaluation proved the initiative ineffective. Instead, average waiting periods for specialist visits rose by about a week.
Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) plans to review the TSVG only once a primary‑care system is introduced. The audit office argues that this delay is too late; continuing to fund the program now would waste money. The TSVG, introduced in 2019, originally aimed to accelerate appointment availability. Yet since then, the average waiting time for a specialist appointment for statutory health‑insured patients grew from 33 days in 2019 to 42 days in 2024.