Anti-Lifting Group for General Practitioner Budget Ceiling

Replace monetary resources - Anti-Lifting Group for General Practitioner Budget Ceiling

The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern branch of the Association of Health Insurance Funds (vdek) thinks that the federal government's plan to remove budget caps for general practitioners is a blunder. This is because it won't help increase supply in rural areas, but will significantly raise health insurance premiums. "Based on initial calculations, the annual rising costs for healthcare in Germany could increase by several hundred million euros due to this measure," explained vdek's regional head, Kirsten Jüttner, in Schwerin.

Even though the aim of the latest draft of the Health Care Reinforcement Act by the Federal Cabinet is to ensure long-term general practitioner care, Jüttner doesn't believe this to be the case in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. She warned against altering the system at the expense of insured individuals. "The current budgets are a strategic pillar of our income-based healthcare system," she emphasized.

The total reimbursement for general practitioners has been negotiated yearly between the public health insurance funds and the Medical Association of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and adjusted according to shifting treatment needs. The budget for MV is now approximately 750 million euros.

Lauterbach, the Federal Health Minister (SPD), expects that with the removal of budget caps there will also be more treatments. However, Jüttner doubts this is realistic since practices are already packed every day. According to her, general practitioners in rural-focused Mecklenburg-Vorpommern see an average of 4,026 treatment cases for insured patients annually, which is 11% above the national average. One treatment case can contain several consultations in a quarter.

Doctors had already said at the beginning of the year, when the Statutory Health Insurance Association suggested raising minimum consultation hours for statutory health insurance patients, that they had no more available hours. Since doctors are legally required to be accessible to insured patients for at least 25 hours weekly, this is already a strain.

To guarantee medical care, especially in rural areas over the long term, Jüttner supports establishing efficient and high-caliber frameworks. "Here, cooperative structures like Regional Health Centers - where ambulatory and stationary services, along with other services, are focused - are a viable option," she said.

The Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians estimates that approximately 100 of the 1,000 general practitioner positions in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are vacant, and the situation is likely to become much worse in the future as numerous general practitioners and hospitals are approaching retirement age and haven't found a successor. In two-thirds of the 27 planning regions, there's a risk of under-provision, it was stated. In 2022, there were 922 general practitioner practices licensed in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, alongside 214 employed doctors ensuring general practitioner care. According to the Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung, with more than 70 general practitioners per 100,000 inhabitants, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is one of the states with the highest doctor density.

Read also:

1. Despite the concerns raised by the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern branch of the Association of Health Insurance Funds (vdek), the Federal Government, led by Karl Lauterbach (SPD), the Federal Health Minister, is pushing forward with their plan to remove budget caps for general practitioners.
2. The Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has expressed concerns that this measure could significantly increase health insurance premiums, possibly by several hundred million euros annually.
3. General practitioners in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a region with a high doctor density, see an average of 4,026 treatment cases for insured patients annually, which is 11% above the national average.
4. Jüttner, the regional head of vdek, believes that increasing healthcare costs due to budget cap removal will negatively impact insured individuals and could potentially lead to alterations in the income-based healthcare system.
5. In an effort to secure long-term medical care, especially in rural areas, Jüttner advocates for the implementation of cooperative structures such as Regional Health Centers, which coordinate ambulatory and stationary services.
6. The Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has identified a potential risk of under-provision in two-thirds of the 27 planning regions, with around 100 of the 1,000 general practitioner positions in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern currently vacant.

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