Warken considers practice Fee changes amidst Cost Concerns
Warken plans practice fees,states block cost containment package,SPD wants to cut specialist fees and criticism of the emergency reform.
Warken is Considering a New Edition of the Practice Fee
Federal Health Minister Nina Warken is considering a revised practice fee and increased co-payments for medication to control costs and improve patient care.Her plan involves charging patients a fee for seeing a specialist without a referral.This regulation will be included in the upcoming law establishing a primary care system with stronger oversight. Warken also suggested rewarding patients who consult their family doctor before visiting a specialist. She announced meaningful savings for the coming year to ease the financial strain on statutory health insurance, aiming to prevent further increases in contribution rates.
the SPD parliamentary group immediately reacted to Warken’s proposal. Health policy spokesperson Dr. Christos Pantazis cautioned against creating more financial barriers and bureaucratic burdens for practices. He argued that control shouldn’t depend on patients’ finances, but on solid structural safeguards. Both the KBV (Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians) and the National Association of Statutory health Insurance Funds also oppose a practice fee.
States Block Austerity Law and Call for Mediation Committee
The Federal Council has invoked the mediation committee regarding the “Law to expand powers and reduce bureaucracy in nursing.” This law includes a cost containment package designed to relieve the financial pressure on statutory health insurance. The Council’s action stems from a provision that will reduce hospital revenue by approximately 1.8 billion euros next year. This reduction occurs because hospital material cost reimbursement will be limited to actual cost increases, preventing them from tying revenue increases to higher forecasts from the Federal Statistical Office. This cost-cutting measure appears contradictory to the planned hospital reform, which allocates two billion euros for immediate hospital change costs.
responding to the Federal Council’s decision, Health Minister Warken emphasized that, despite the federal government’s planned savings, hospital revenue is still projected to grow by eight to twelve billion euros next year, reaching a total of 120 billion euros.