The Federal Minister of Health, Nina Warken (CDU), has confirmed that she will not challenge the recently decided fee reduction for psychotherapists. This information comes from a document issued by the Federal Ministry of Health, as reported by the “Rheinische Post”.
According to the ministry, Warken’s department thoroughly reviewed the decision made by the Expanded Assessment Committee to reduce fees by 4.5 percent and found no grounds for a legal objection. Furthermore, the ministry had requested additional data from the Assessment Committee. The document specifies that the Federal Ministry of Health sought supplementary information and comments from the committee’s management to verify that all relevant data had been available and considered in the underlying data base and calculation methods used for the reduction.
The Assessment Committee is comprised equally of representatives from the German Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) and the Federal Association of Statutory Health Insurance (GKV-Spitzenverband). Its task is to annually assess whether the payment levels for psychotherapeutic services are appropriate, concluding most recently that a 4.5 percent reduction in therapy session fees was warranted. The ministry clarified in its report that it does not influence the fee amounts for the vast majority of providers in the healthcare system.
The Federal Ministry of Health, however, maintains legal oversight over the Assessment Committee’s decisions. This oversight is limited to checking for potential violations of laws, particularly unconstitutional regulations, ensuring the actions comply with existing legal frameworks; it does not concern themselves with purely technical reasons or professional doubts.
Current figures indicate that 41,937 psychological and medical psychotherapists, including therapists for children and youth, participate in statutory healthcare services. This represents a growth of approximately 54.61 percent since 2014, largely attributed to the increased number of child and youth therapists.
Despite these growing service capacities, the ministry notes sustained criticism regarding long waiting times and stated that this issue is taken very seriously. Warken’s office has announced plans to introduce legislative changes to create special needs planning criteria for doctors and psychotherapists who primarily or exclusively treat children and youth. This project aims to create new opportunities for these specialists to set up practices and reduce waiting times for regional therapy services. These fee cuts took place following widespread protests from psychotherapists.
