fact finder
A statement by CDU leader Merz gives the impression that rejected asylum seekers receive dental treatment and that Germans therefore do not receive treatment appointments. In fact, this statement cannot be maintained.
The CDU chairman Friedrich Merz has often attracted attention with claims about migration and integration. He recently sparked a heated discussion with a statement about rejected asylum seekers:
The population is also going crazy, the people. When they see that 300,000 asylum seekers are rejected, not allowed to leave the country, receive full benefits, receive full medical care. They sit at the doctor and have their teeth changed, and the German citizens next door don’t get any appointments.
This is what Merz said in a talk on the television station “Welt”. There was quickly opposition to the CDU leader’s statement, because in fact it cannot be maintained: tolerated persons receive reduced medical care in the first 18 months of their stay in accordance with the Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act.
Dentist appointments only in emergencies
Specifically, this means that they are only entitled to health care in emergencies without the permission of the authorities:
To treat acute illnesses and pain conditions, the necessary medical and dental treatment must be provided, including the provision of medicines and bandages as well as other services necessary for the recovery, improvement or alleviation of illnesses or the consequences of illnesses. Dentures will only be provided if this cannot be postponed for medical reasons in individual cases.
GKV benefits only after 18 months
Every dentist must decide, based on the patient’s individual situation, which examinations and treatments are necessary and covered within the meaning of the Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act, writes the Federal Dental Association in a guide on the dental treatment of asylum seekers.
After the first 18 months of their stay, asylum seekers, including those with toleration status, are looked after by statutory health insurance companies. In some federal states, you also receive an electronic health card with which you receive almost the same benefits as those with statutory health insurance. The health insurance companies recover the costs from the authorities.
As for all those with statutory health insurance, asylum seekers also have to cover all costs that exceed the fixed subsidy from the health insurance companies: These only pay for the cheapest solution. Only in cases of hardship will the patient not be required to pay an additional fee. Rejected asylum seekers are not given preferential treatment, as the CDU leader’s statement might suggest.
According to Merz, such services would act as “pull factors” that would attract migrants to Germany. However, migration experts consider this theory to be outdated. The Scientific Service of the Bundestag also comes to the same conclusion documentation. Accordingly, such simple explanatory models would not do justice to the complexity of migration processes.
There are 300,000 Obligated to leave the country?
According to the Central Register of Foreigners, as of December 31, 2022, there were a total of 304,308 people in Germany who were legally obliged to leave the country. However, the term is problematic because 248,145 of them had toleration. This means that deportation is not possible for factual or legal reasons.
Stricter rules apply to them than to asylum seekers, for example restricted freedom of movement. In addition, under certain conditions, benefits can be reduced and a work permit can be refused. As soon as a departure date and an exit option for an asylum seeker have been determined, they are no longer entitled to benefits from the day after the departure date.
CDU/CSU faction temporarily deletes Merz video
The CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag no longer seemed to support the statement of its party leader: As “Bild” reported, it had deleted a video of the talk from X, formerly Twitter. The criticized sentences were removed from a clip newly uploaded to the channel. The original version has since been reposted with a comment:
It said:
The fact is:👇 After 18 months, asylum seekers, including those who have been rejected, are generally entitled to the same medical care as those with statutory health insurance. This also applies to dental treatment and dentures (Section 2 Paragraph 1 AsylbLG). Rejected asylum seekers or foreigners who are required to leave the country are generally allowed to stay in Germany for longer than 18 months due to the length of the procedure. #CDUCSU
Problematic statement about Ukrainian refugees
Similar to Merz, AfD MP Martin Sichert made a statement about refugees from Ukraine in the Bundestag on September 23rd:
While Ukrainian luxury cars stand in front of German dentists’ offices and Ukrainians get their teeth straightened at the expense of German contributors, many Germans no longer know how they can finance their own basic foodstuffs in view of the increased cost of living.
AfD MP Sichert claims that wealthy Ukrainians receive free dental treatment in Germany.
Since June 1, 2022, refugees from Ukraine have been able to apply for basic security benefits for job seekers if they need help – the so-called citizen’s benefit. This means they are entitled to benefits in accordance with the Second or Twelfth Book of the Social Code (SGB II or SGB XII) – to the full catalog of benefits of statutory health insurance – if they are in need of help.
If this is not the case because you have assets or have started work, then you have to pay the health insurance contributions – or have the treatments billed privately. According to the Federal Employment Agency, 192,700 Ukrainians were employed in Germany in June 2023. 152,400 of them had jobs subject to social insurance contributions.
By October 2022, according to the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research (IAB), around 654,000 Ukrainians under the age of 65 were registered with basic security, including a good 80 percent of women and children.