Two weeks after the Health Finance Committee released its report on stabilizing contribution rates in statutory health insurance, Federal Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) introduced her own austerity package. Speaking in Berlin on Tuesday, she stated that her proposed package would adhere to two main guidelines. First, she announced a commitment to linking future increases in prices and reimbursements across all benefit areas to the development of revenue. This measure, she emphasized, is not a general cut, but rather a limitation of future expenditure increases to actual revenue growth. Warken stated, “We simply cannot spend more money than we take in”.
The second guideline is that expenditures for insured persons must demonstrate tangible benefits. She added, “Regulations that do not meet this requirement can no longer be financed”. Given the financial challenges, all sectors and stakeholders must contribute. “Otherwise, we simply cannot cover the deficit”.
Overall, Warken intends to implement over three-quarters of the measures suggested by the Finance Committee. Specifically, she proposes permanently eliminating the so-called ‘most favorable clause’ in the inpatient sector. Furthermore, she advocates for limiting increases in the long-term care budget and promoting the gradual introduction of a mandatory second-opinion process.
Regarding the contract doctor sector, proposals include abolishing extra-budgetary reimbursements for services rendered in open consultation hours and in referral cases. For health insurance funds, she suggests capping administrative spending and halving advertising expenditures.
According to Warken, these measures could save nearly twelve billion Euros in the coming year. However, she added that this alone is insufficient: “To cover the deficit truly sustainably, insurers and employers must also contribute”. Nevertheless, Warken concluded by noting that without these measures, the burden on insured persons and employers “would be many times higher than with the reform”.
