Green politician Ricarda Lang has cautioned the ruling black-and-red coalition against actually implementing the planned sick leave policy from day one. Speaking to the newspapers of the Funke Media Group (Thursday editions), Lang stated that if the government has not completely lost touch with reality, it would not pass this measure solely to distract from the government’s lack of answers regarding the economy’s actual problems.
Lang, who was part of the Green party leadership and the traffic light coalition, described the situation where, after lengthy negotiations in the coalition committee, one eventually reaches a point “in a tunnel” and must compromise. However, she argued that if input from practitioners across the country indicates that the measure leads to more sick days, not fewer, then political party and coalition logic should not mandate the passing of such a “crazy idea” through the Bundestag.
According to Lang, it would be better for both patients, who would no longer have to struggle in doctor’s offices without being ill, and for already overworked physicians, if the government abandoned the plan. She advised Friedrich Merz, in particular, to spend ten minutes talking to a general practitioner-ideally one who does not exclusively serve private patients-calling it a potentially beneficial conversation.
