Initiative: Health insurance companies should compensate for higher wages
North Rhine-Westphalia wants to put pressure on the federal government with the help of a Bundesrat initiative on hospital funding. With the support of the SPD in the NRW state parliament, the state government is calling on the federal government to provide financial support for hospitals that have come under pressure. This was announced by NRW Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU) on Tuesday after the cabinet meeting in Düsseldorf. The initiative will be submitted to the Bundesrat on Friday and will be supported by the states of Bavaria, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein in addition to NRW.
The main demand to the federal government is that the agreed wage increases for staff are refinanced by the payers, i.e. the statutory and private health insurers. "This is not yet 100 percent the case," said Laumann. The NRW Minister assumes that the proposal will find a majority in the Bundesrat on Friday.
The financial situation of many clinics across Germany has deteriorated due to the recent high inflation and the wage increases that have been agreed. The case flat rate system means that the work in the clinics is not sufficiently refinanced and some hospitals have already had to file for insolvency.
The federal government is urged by North Rhine-Westphalia and several other states to take responsibility for financing the wage increases in hospitals, as the current situation leaves a financial gap that health insurance companies have not fully compensated. Despite the agreed wage increases, some hospitals are struggling financially due to the not fully covered costs, contributing to deteriorating financial situations in many hospitals across Germany.
Source: www.dpa.com
