Leading representatives of physicians warn the federal governments that the proposed budget cuts in the new cost‑saving package will almost certainly shrink the number of available patient appointments.
The chairman of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), Andreas Gassen, told the “Bild” that even today many treatments are not reimbursed. He explained: “Less money means less performance”. Currently specialists receive payment for only 85 % of the appointments they hold, which translates to about 40 million free appointments a year. “We are already planning to cut those unattended sessions further over the coming months” Gassen said, adding that any additional reduction in the fee schedule would “remove even more services”.
Gassen also rejected the claim that the payment cuts would have no impact on patient care. “Anyone who says the reductions do not affect patient care either knows nothing or is deliberately lying” he insisted. He stresses that the medical profession is ready to adjust its service offering in line with the available funds, “either up or down, as the situation demands”. He illustrated this point with an everyday analogy: “If you buy only ten gigabytes of data for your mobile plan to keep the cost low, you shouldn’t later complain when the streaming service suddenly stops”.
The federal chairman of the German General Practitioners’ Association, Markus Blumenthal‑Beier, expressed similar concerns. “Since the ending of the budgeting system we finally receive payment for all our work everywhere” he told the newspaper. He warned that reversing that progress would produce concrete, negative effects for patients. In regions hit hardest, clinic closures could become unavoidable. Many doctors might question whether keeping an office is still viable and, if in doubt, may close shop. “The consequence would be that more people will be unable to find a primary‑care practice that can take care of them” Blumenthal‑Beier warned. Research shows that poorer GP coverage leads to increased hospital admissions, which quickly becomes very expensive. Those who cut back on general‑practice services are, in his words, “shouting themselves in the knee”.
