Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) insisted that savings of 16 billion euros are required within the statutory health insurance system (GKV). Speaking to the “Rheinische Post”, she stated that what the cabinet approved is already a compromise among the coalition partners. She expressed hope that the resulting changes will remain within manageable bounds to prevent any subsequent imbalances. Warken emphasized that regardless of potential adjustments, the overall savings for the GKV must remain at the current level, stressing, “The marker of at least 16 billion euros in savings must be maintained”.
Addressing the medical community, the minister warned against doctors reducing appointment availability due to the planned savings. While acknowledging that the reform might alarm medical professionals, she reminded them that their compensation had increased by 20 billion euros over the last decade. She argued that a significant portion of this increase was designated for reducing waiting times, a goal that has thus far not been met, and patients continue to wait too long for specialist appointments. Because of this, she deems the rollback of certain regulations justified. She added that while compensation increases remain possible, they would, like those for all sectors, be linked to revenues. However, she appealed to the medical profession not to spread fear among the public, noting that statutory insurance recipients still have a fundamental right to timely appointments with their primary or specialist care doctor-a core element of the healthcare system and the medical profession’s duty of care.
Warken remained skeptical of a proposal suggesting the reduction of the number of sickness funds from over 90 to just 20, warning that the issue was far more complex and required a thorough assessment of its impacts. While she was open to the concept of setting a minimum membership threshold to improve administrative efficiency, she pointed out instances where similar projects had counter-productive results.
Regarding the proposal from North Rhine-Westphalia Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU) to extend the planned regulations to civil servants, Warken stated she understood the rationale. She noted the genuine concern about creating disparities between large population groups and fostering unnecessary envy. Nevertheless, she stated that while she is fundamentally willing to consider whether changes in the GKV could be applied to civil servants, this falls outside her jurisdiction and pertains to civil service law. Furthermore, she added that state governments are fully capable of independently instituting such measures for their own civil servants without federal involvement.
