Andreas Gassen, the head of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), dismissed criticism from Chancellor Merz regarding the treatment of insured patients (statutory vs. private). Speaking to the “Rheinische Post,” Gassen stated that Merz’s sudden discovery of an alleged fairness gap between public and private health insurance appeared to stem from a “certain political aimlessness.”
He argued that any future differences in care would likely be due to the federal government’s stringent savings law, which, starting in 2027, is planned to cut approximately three billion euros from the outpatient care of statutory insured persons. Gassen criticized the politicians for forcing medical practices to adjust their operational procedures and service offerings.
Furthermore, Gassen emphasized that, up until now, there had been no qualitative differences in care between those covered by statutory versus private insurance in Germany. While acknowledging that disparities in comfort are often complained about, he strongly supported the possibility of faster appointment scheduling for medically urgent patients within the statutory system, noting that the Ministry of Health only needs to adopt suggestions that the KBV has already put forward.
The KBV chief also issued a severe warning against abolishing private health insurance, stating that attempts to do so were previously an idea championed by the political left wing, which is also seeking solutions in expropriation. Gassen concluded that neither of these approaches solves the problems, noting that both face insurmountable legal, financial, and temporal hurdles.
