The Economics Monika Schnitzer advocates in view of rising costs Health system for more deductibles for statutory health insurance patients. “Germany is the world champion when it comes to doctor and clinic visits,” she told the Rhenish Post. “We have to strengthen prevention. But we will also have to increase the deductible.”
As an example, she cited the practice fee for doctor’s visits. “A practice fee makes sense if you can collect it with little bureaucracy,” said Schnitzer. “Instead of burdening the doctors with this, the health insurance companies could collect it.”
A spokesman for the umbrella association of statutory health insurance companies (GKV) criticized the call for the reintroduction of one Practice fee distract from the “fundamental problems in our healthcare system.” Statutory health insurance spending on higher fees, clinics, medication and overall more services would increase by around 23 billion euros to around 370 billion euros in the coming year. “No practice fee helps against this dynamic spending,” said the spokesman. Instead, “fundamental structural reforms” are needed.
Schnitzer calls for a review of health insurance benefits
Schnitzer, chairwoman of the Advisory Council for the Assessment of Overall Economic Development, also called for reforms. Otherwise there is a threat Contribution to statutory health insurance to increase to 25 percentshe warned. The economics demanded in general: “The health system must become more efficient.” For example, services such as homeopathy and “other health insurance benefits without evidence” could be canceled.
The economy also stimulated a debate about therapies in old age. “At the same time, you have to ask whether everything medically possible makes sense for the individual,” said Schnitzer. “We are getting older and older and health care costs increase enormously, especially in old age. We have to discuss whether it makes sense at such an old age to use all available, but often very stressful, therapies.”
The CDU health politician Hendrik Streeck recently called for a debate about this. Not everything that is medically possible is also “humanly justifiable,” he wrote in a guest article for the in mid-November Rhenish Post. He called for investing in structures “that enable dignity – rather than in interventions that bring in revenue, but not a lifetime“.
