SPD health politicians praise coalition agreement as a “real work program” – with risks

Berlin. The SPD's members' vote on the coalition agreement continues until the middle of next week. According to Boris Velter, chairman of the ASG – the Working Group of Social Democrats in the Health Sector – the SPD negotiators have succeeded in incorporating social democratic positions into health and care policy. They have developed a "condensed, ambitious reform agenda," Velter wrote to the "members and friends" of the ASG. The letter has been obtained by Ärzte Zeitung.

Velter particularly emphasizes the "primary physician system with appointment guarantee," which could help direct patients more quickly to the appropriate outpatient care – "including the corresponding opening of hospitals for statutory health insurance patients." "All of this is in line with our ASG resolutions," Velter writes. If a primary physician determines that a specialist appointment is medically necessary, a time frame must be established. The KV is then obligated to arrange an appointment for this time.

The paper is "a genuine work program," with a concrete measure contained in almost every sentence. "From a health and care policy perspective, I believe the coalition agreement can be well supported," summarizes the SPD health politician, who currently serves as head of the management staff at the Federal Ministry of Health.

Risk of pressure on contribution rates

Overall, the coalition paper continues the "modernization course" pursued during the previous legislative period. Hospital reform and digitalization are being "consistently developed further." Reforms such as the emergency care reform, initiatives to reduce bureaucracy in the healthcare system, the Nursing Competence Act and the Nursing Assistance Act, as well as outpatient care (hybrid DRG) are "firmly anchored in the new coalition agreement." The author also praises aspects of supply security, such as the goal of "relocating production sites for critical pharmaceuticals back to Germany and Europe, strengthening specialists in underserved areas, and pharmacies in rural areas."

However, he considers the transfer of responsibility for the Federal Ministry of Health from the SPD to the CDU "a major mistake," Velter continues, who, as is well known, works closely with Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) within the Federal Ministry of Health. The shifting of issues of contribution rate stability to committees and working groups also "carries high risks." Until "the structural reforms take effect in the medium term," this will create "enormous pressure on contribution rates" in the system, especially since it has not been possible to "refinance overall social tasks through appropriate tax revenues in the short term." (ger)