Fear of clinic closures, criticism of financing plans – the planned hospital reform continues to cause disputes between the federal and state governments. Nevertheless, Federal Health Minister Lauterbach wants to move forward quickly.
Despite ongoing differences with the federal states, Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach is committed to taking the next quick steps towards the planned hospital reform. The SPD politician said after federal-state consultations in Berlin that one could go along with some of the requested points, such as greater de-bureaucratization. On the other hand, uniform quality standards for the federal government are not negotiable. The need for reform was not questioned at the meeting. Everyone knows that it is a “historic opportunity” to rebuild the hospital system as it is needed.
First reading before summer
States and associations have until April 30 to comment on a bill that has now been presented, as the minister explained. The cabinet is scheduled to deal with it on May 8th, and the first reading in the Bundestag is expected before the summer. Lauterbach said he doesn’t think the reform will fail anymore. The hospital reform is designed in such a way that it should no longer require approval in the Federal Council.
Objections from the countries
Objections to Lauterbach’s actions continue to come from the federal states. The Bavarian department head Judith Gerlach (CSU) criticized a threat to security of supply. “Far too many hospitals have to significantly reduce their range of services as a result of his reform proposal. That is irresponsible,” said Gerlach. If Lauterbach does not correct his plan, Bavaria will take legal action against it in the Federal Constitutional Court. A new report commissioned by Bavaria, Schleswig-Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg found, among other things, that passing a law without the consent of the Federal Council carries “the risk of formal unconstitutionality”. The four countries criticize interference in the planning sovereignty of the countries.
Criticism also from health insurance companies
Health insurance companies are also considering legal action in the dispute over hospital reform. The point is that, according to the draft law, the restructuring of the hospital landscape should also be financed with funds from statutory health insurance. “The burden continues to be distributed to the statutory health insurance,” criticized the head of the Association of Substitute Insurance Funds (vdek), Ulrike Elsner, in an interview with the “Ärzte Zeitung” (Thursday). “The proposed financing of the clinic renovation is something that would place a massive burden on contributors for years to come,” she added.
Goals of the Hospital reform
With the hospital reform, Federal Health Minister Lauterbach wants to fundamentally change the financing, organization and range of services of the around 1,900 hospitals in Germany. A key goal is to improve the quality of treatment by no longer allowing every clinic to do everything, but instead having to provide the minimum structures necessary for a service to be provided. Only then will the clinic receive a corresponding service group and be allowed to bill for the service. This should also reduce the number of clinics and ensure more large clinics.
Fundamental change in financing
The financing of hospitals should also change so that the clinics are freed from the financial pressure of having to treat more and more patients. In the future, they should receive 60 percent of the remuneration just for holding offers. Critics had said that there was too much surgery in Germany’s clinics because it was lucrative for the hospitals. Medical departments that cannot be operated economically have also been closed in many cases, such as children’s hospitals or maternity wards. That should change with the new financing system.