Josef Hecken, the chairman of the Joint Federal Committee (GBA)-which represents health insurance funds, hospitals, and doctors-has sharply criticized the governing coalition’s plans for financing the healthcare system.
Speaking to the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung” (FAS), Hecken stated that the draft law proposed by Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) contains “a serious justice gap.” He specifically referred to the insurance contributions of benefit recipients (Bürgergeldempfänger), noting that, theoretically, the federal government should cover these costs through tax revenue.
“The contributors are asked to pay. Doctors and hospitals are asked to pay. Only the Federation is shirking its duty,” Hecken argued. To address the funding shortfall, he proposed introducing a tax on sugary drinks and significantly increasing taxes on tobacco and alcohol, with the resulting revenue streams being funneled back into the healthcare system. He added, “I completely lack understanding as to why the tobacco tax is not massively increased.”
Regarding recent warnings from the pharmaceutical industry that changes to drug reimbursement threaten patient care in Germany, Hecken reacted calmly. He mentioned that similar warnings were present even before the introduction of the benefit assessment for new medicines in 2011. “Since then, we have evaluated around 1,000 new active substances. This saves the health insurance nearly 11 billion euros annually. And there were perhaps ten or eleven cases where a medication subsequently did not reach Germany,” Hecken told the FAS.
The GBA is the highest body of self-governance in the German healthcare sector, responsible for defining which medical services are covered by statutory health insurance. Last year, the committee’s expenditures totaled over 330 billion euros, and without reforms, a deficit of 12 billion euros is forecast for the coming year. Josef Hecken has led the Federal Committee for 14 years and will hand over the post to Sonja Optendrenk on July 1.
