The German District Council Day (DLT) has joined the ADAC in warning about potential cuts to aerial emergency services, expressing fears that the planned health insurance reform will lead to a dramatic deterioration of healthcare, particularly in rural areas.
“While we, as district councils, are not responsible for air ambulance services” stated DLT President Achim Brötel to the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” (Saturday edition), “we explicitly share these concerns. A true vicious cycle is looming”.
He explained that if budget cuts thin out the hospital infrastructure across the countryside, the importance of quick air rescue becomes even more crucial. In such a scenario, reaching a patient by ambulance could prove too time-consuming. However, if air rescue itself is curtailed, seriously ill or injured patients might not reach the hospital in time. “That cannot, and must not, happen. Helicopters do not launch services for someone who has just broken a leg. We are dealing with acute emergencies and human lives”.
The DLT President also sharply criticized the budget cuts aimed at clinics. The planned statutory health insurance (GKV) savings package would place an additional burden of over five billion euros on hospitals. This could almost double the already excessively high deficits. “No one can handle that” Brötel commented, adding that it is likely that smaller, yet vital, local hospitals will be forced to close or scale down operations. This outcome would drastically deteriorate healthcare provision in regional areas.
The GKV reform has already been approved by the federal cabinet and is expected to pass the Bundestag by early July.