Health insurers sharply reject the pharmacies’ demand for higher fees, accusing them of spreading false claims.
Addressing a nationwide protest planned by pharmacist associations on Monday, which would see the pharmacies shut down all day, Stefanie Stoff‑Ahnis, vice‑chair of the insurers’ umbrella association, told the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland”: “The claim that remuneration has stagnated since 2013 is simply untrue”. From 2013 to 2024 the annual payments from insurers to pharmacies rose from €1.5 billion to €7.1 billion-an increase of 26 %. This figure excludes services such as ointment production, infusion preparation, and vaccinations, which would boost the total even further. “The pharmacy fee keeps growing each year-financed out of the health‑insurance taxpayers’ pockets” she added.
Stoff‑Ahnis pointed to the reimbursement rules that require insurers to pay a 3 % surcharge on every dispensed pack. Because drug prices rise annually and the number of dispensed packs also grows, pharmacy remuneration rises steadily. Additional surcharges are paid for night and on‑call services, the newly introduced courier fees, and extra payments when a drug is unavailable and a substitute has to be sourced. The current red‑black coalition also plans another remuneration boost for pharmacies, for example by expanding vaccination options.
By contrast, Thomas Preis, chief of the pharmacy association Abda, speaks of a “thirteen‑year payment standstill”. The pharmacists’ demand is a blanket increase of the “fixed fee” paid per medication. Insurers prefer a differentiated scheme. “Pharmacies in densely populated, high‑revenue areas do not need a fee increase, whereas those in economically weak regions do” Stoff‑Ahnis explained. Strong‑sales pharmacies would receive a lower fixed amount per pack, weaker ones a higher amount. “In total there is no need for a higher fee”. She further argued that the fee, financed by patients and employers through health‑insurance contributions, should simply be better distributed.