Carsten Linnemann, the newly appointed Federal Minister of Health for the CDU, has addressed reservations regarding his suitability for the role, explaining why he had opposed the ministerial position a year earlier. He told Bild that if the situation were rewinded to the time just after the Bundestag election, he would say the same thing: “The starting conditions were different then. During the campaign, I consistently advocated for the abolition of the Bürgergeld [citizen’s income benefit]. This was a central promise of the Union, and I was determined to fulfil it.” Therefore, he chose to maintain a dual function: acting as General Secretary to participate in the coalition committee, while also taking on the role of Deputy Parliamentary Group Leader for Labor and Social Affairs to push forward reforms to basic social security, halt dramatic developments, and reverse negative trends.
Linnemann noted that the Bürgergeld issue is now history, and a new basic security system has been introduced. Simultaneously, he has been negotiating health topics in the coalition committee for over a year and observes that considerable reform pressure exists within the healthcare sector. He stated that the Ministry of Health has become “one of the central reform portfolios of the government.” This, the CDU politician added, was also why the Federal Chancellor asked him to take on the portfolio. “We simply need to know this: We have one of the most expensive health systems in the world, but not one of the best. People in Germany are not healthier on average than elsewhere, nor do we have a higher life expectancy.”
Describing his apprehension in the past, Linnemann recalled telling Phoenix in May 2025 that being a minister wasn’t “his thing,” merely to have a listing in Wikipedia. “If they had appointed me then, I don’t know, as Health Minister, I probably wouldn’t have been successful. People would have said: Why is the Health Minister [Linnemann]? What does he have to do with it? And so: Schuster, stick to what you know, do what you can.”
Looking ahead in his new capacity, Linnemann announced intentions to reduce the number of health insurance funds and stabilize contribution rates. He said, “I have been advocating for a reduction in the number of health insurers for a long time. And the stabilization of social contributions, which should actually decrease, is beyond question. But it won’t be easy, and I am not pretending it will.”
