Long waiting times for a doctor’s appointment, people without access to health care. Minister Lauterbach wants to change that, including with health kiosks. But after pressure from the FDP, he will probably have to cancel this project.
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) has been announcing improvements to outpatient care for months. One component of his plans are the so-called health kiosks. They should primarily help patients in disadvantaged regions: Nurses should, among other things, carry out routine medical tasks in the kiosks, such as measuring blood pressure and blood sugar, changing bandages and caring for wounds. The aim was to introduce such facilities “in the poorest 1,000 districts in Germany,” said the minister at the beginning of March.
But now it’s becoming clear: the health kiosks probably won’t come. The Liberals are against it and have apparently prevailed. In a draft of the “Health Care Strengthening Act”, which… ARD capital studio is available, the Federal Ministry of Health has now completely eliminated the health kiosks. It can be assumed that the austerity pressure imposed by Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) prompted Lauterbach to take this step.
FDP criticizes “inefficient double structure”
Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus, parliamentary director of the Liberals, described the health kiosks as an “inefficient double structure with questionable benefits for care.” The FDP health politician said this Report from Berlin, instead it’s about “improving care, especially in rural areas, and basic care with doctors.” Aschenberg-Dugnus fears “a significant expense risk” and “an additional burden” for contributors due to higher health insurance contributions.
The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds also shares this concern. In an earlier version of the “Health Care Strengthening Act”, the Federal Ministry of Health estimated costs totaling around 400,000 euros per year per health kiosk. The past with the model projects has shown “that it cost significantly more money,” said GKV spokesman Florian Lanz Report from Berlin. “We are therefore skeptical as to whether it is actually only 400,000 euros per year. We fear it would be significantly more,” said Lanz.
This is probably one of the reasons why the number of planned health kiosks was initially significantly reduced. Instead of 1,000, there was now talk of 220 health kiosks. Health Minister Lauterbach probably hoped that he would be able to win the FDP parliamentary group over to the significantly reduced project.
Further measures planned
But the resistance in the FDP remained. These 220 kiosks are also “a double structure that is being established that we consider unnecessary and even harmful,” said Aschenberg-Dugnus. Contrary to what Minister Lauterbach initially planned, the health kiosks will probably not be included in standard care and health insurance companies will still not have to cover the costs. So far, such kiosks only exist as pilot projects.
Further measures are planned in the draft law to strengthen outpatient care. Among other things, it is also about the so-called budgeting of general practitioners. This means: There is a certain reimbursement from the statutory health insurance company for every treatment. For many services, however, the amount is capped, based on a budget. If a family doctor exceeds this, he will not be fully reimbursed for his costs.
Debudgeting would change that. General practitioners have been pushing for this for a long time. Lauterbach promised this in January after a crisis summit in his ministry
You can see more on this topic in the “Report from Berlin” on ARD today at 6 p.m.