The Federal Constitutional Court has dismissed emergency petitions filed by members of the Bundestag concerning the legislative procedure for the Statutory Health Insurance (GKV) Contribution Rate Stabilization Law. The judges in Karlsruhe announced this on Thursday.
The applicants claimed their right to equal participation was violated because extensive amendments were submitted with insufficient lead time. They sought to prevent the planned reading of the bill in the Bundestag the following Friday.
Health politicians Janosch Dahmen (The Greens) and Ates Gürpinar (The Left) each submitted an urgent petition to the court in Karlsruhe on Wednesday. They aimed to stop the ruling coalition from passing the law that week. Dahmen criticized the process, stating that he had serious doubts about the constitutionality of the procedure, given that a 279-page amendment was presented shortly before the final consultation. He argued that a law with multi-billion euro consequences could not be responsibly reviewed under these conditions.
The Federal Ministry of Health countered this criticism, stating that the amendments had been unofficially available to the deputies since Sunday evening. They maintained that any delay in the law was manageable organizationally as long as it was adopted before the next meeting of the GKV Estimator Group in the autumn. At present, the timetable is largely dependent on the Federal Constitutional Court’s decision. Furthermore, the Bundesrat (the chamber representing the states) retains the power to interfere with the schedule, as the Länder must approve the extension of the consultation period.
