Status: 10/15/2022 2:14 p.m
Due to higher doctor’s fees, those with statutory health insurance should be able to get an appointment with a specialist more quickly in the future. Health Minister Lauterbach said that this was an important step against “two-tier medicine”.
People with statutory health insurance should get an appointment with a specialist more quickly. That is why the fees for family doctors who successfully arranged short-term appointments with specialists would be increased, announced Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) at the editorial network Germany (RND).
According to the RND, they should receive 15 instead of ten euros. Lauterbach said that the fees for the specialists who work with the appointment service points would also be improved. Depending on the speed of the mediation, the flat-rate supply can be increased up to three times.
“This is an important step against the two-tier medicine”
The fee is paid extra and not from the capped pool of specialist fees. “This is an important step against two-tier medicine,” explained the minister. “Getting an appointment with a specialist must finally be much easier than before.”
Despite the abolition of the so-called new patient regulation, people with statutory health insurance should quickly get an appointment with a specialist. This was introduced three years ago together with increased consultation hours in the so-called Appointment Service and Supply Act.
It served as an incentive for practices to offer more appointments and treat more people. The regulation states that services for new patients are not paid for from a capped pot, but from an extra budget.
Higher fees as part of a package of measures
Anyone who was treated in a practice for the first time or last more than two years ago is considered a new patient. As a result of the planned discontinuation, medical associations have already warned of longer waiting times and possible freezes on admissions.
The deletion follows a change in the law: In order to stabilize the health insurance funds financially, the Federal Ministry of Health has initiated the Statutory Health Insurance Financial Stabilization Act. The package includes various measures – including increased additional contributions and a grant of two billion euros from the federal government. The increased fees for arranging appointments are part of a change request that the RND has received.