Former health minister Karl Lauterbach has called for an appointment guarantee for statutory‑insured patients seeking specialist care.
He told the “Rheinische Post” on Thursday that “an appointment guarantee is finally needed with specialists. If no appointment can be secured within three weeks, the patient should be allowed to receive ambulatory care in a hospital as if they were a private‑insurance holder”. The costs would be covered by the fee pool of practising specialists.
Earlier reports in the “Rheinische Post” noted that, on average, insured patients had to wait 42 days in 2024 for a specialist appointment-a rise from 33 days in 2019. At the same time, annual public‑health‑insurance outlays for open consultations with doctors have surged sharply.
