Following protests against the draft law proposed by Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU), various insurance funds and consumer advocates have warned that the planned healthcare reform is being diluted. Oliver Blatt, CEO of the GKV-Spitzenverband, told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” that it is unclear how different associations representing physicians, hospitals, and the pharmaceutical industry are creating alarming scenarios and even threatening patients with poorer care in order to minimize their own contributions to the reform. He added that the goal now is to stop the burdens from shifting onto insured individuals due to the immense pressure from various interest groups during the legislative process.
Ramona Pop, head of the Federal Federation of Consumer Organizations, noted that the advocates’ concerns are understandable. However, she pointed out that too much money is being spent on medicines and on the care provided by doctors in practices and clinics.
The Health Minister introduced the draft law on Thursday with the aim of saving 20 billion euros next year, thus preventing further increases in contributions. The cabinet intends to approve the reform by the end of the month. Representatives from dentists’ associations and hospitals are protesting the planned brake on salary increases and the elimination of reimbursements, and they have convened a press conference for Monday.
While Pop acknowledged that it is understandable that all interest representatives are speaking out loudly, she stated that many proposals to limit spending are sensible and will not lead to greater burdens for patients. She emphasized that the current government plan suggests that patients should bear 20 percent of the reform’s costs through significantly higher co-payments and reduced services for dental care and sick pay. She labeled this arrangement as unsolidaristic and no longer representing a balanced distribution of costs.
GKV chief Blatt commented that while the government is correct in reducing additional reimbursements for faster appointment scheduling-since prompt appointments are scarce-it is unjust to demand extra money for service improvements that do not actually exist. He stressed that this principle should apply to all areas, particularly concerning new drugs that are often much more expensive but not frequently much better.