Speaking ahead of the reform summit scheduled for Wednesday in the Chancellery, Michael Vassiliadis, head of IG-BCE, has demanded that the federal government temporarily suspend and completely redesign its planned health care reform. Speaking to the “Rheinische Post”, Vassiliadis asserted that all aspects of the healthcare system needed a total overhaul. He argued strongly that an increase in systemic efficiencies must precede any cuts, rejecting the notion of the reverse approach. Consequently, he called for prioritizing the proposal intended by the Statutary Health Insurance Experts Committee from this autumn.
Furthermore, he insisted that costs associated with Citizens’ Income (Bürgergeld) recipients should be covered by the state budget rather than being borne by premium payers-a measure he believes is mandatory and currently not addressed. To finance these costs for beneficiaries, he stressed that the federal government must either significantly accelerate economic growth, raise taxes, or take on even more debt. He vehemently opposed the idea that “we are truly just making these reforms solely to consolidate the budget.”
Vassiliadis also presented a possible solution to counter resistance from the pharmaceutical industry regarding lower drug prices: allowing the industry controlled access to patient data for research purposes. Currently, he warned, the existing reform proposals have only generated conflict; the pharma sector has already retracted multi-billion investment plans, and insured individuals remain severely uncertain. He cautioned that this climate is not conducive to successful reforms.
Vassiliadis will be in attendance when social partners meet with coalition leaders at the Chancellery for the inaugural high-level reform summit next Wednesday.
