Germany has passed a law to reorganize its hospital sector, slashing hospitals and boosting clinics. The reform aims to improve care quality, alleviate financial pressure on hospitals, and increase health insurance contributions.
Overview
The German parliament has passed a law aiming to reorganize the health sector, slashing the number of hospitals, boosting clinics and digitalizing bureaucracy.
Key Points
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The reform plans were described by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach as “nothing short of a revolution.”
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A cap on payments for general practitioners was scrapped, providing doctors with incentives to take on more patients.
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Hospitals will no longer be paid per treatment but instead get a guaranteed income for making certain services available.
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The reform aims to alleviate financial pressure on hospitals to perform as many operations as they can, even if they are poorly qualified to carry them out.
Steps Ahead
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A few hundred hospitals will close due to insufficient medical demand.
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Centralization is expected to improve the quality of care.
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Health insurance contributions are set to increase next year but may not rise further in the following year if health reform proposals are implemented.
