Health - Lauterbach has no sympathy for doctors' strike
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has held out the prospect of better working conditions in the face of doctors' protests with closed practices, but continues to reject demands for more money. "I don't see any scope for fee increases," said the SPD politician on ZDF television. Practices need less bureaucracy and money must be distributed more fairly. The minister has announced a meeting in January to discuss improvements, particularly for GPs. Criticism of practice closures also came from the traffic light coalition and the statutory health insurers (GKV).
Doctors' associations had called for practices across Germany to remain closed between the years. The action planned until this Friday is part of the "Practice in Need" campaign. Dirk Heinrich, Chairman of the Virchow Association of General Practitioners, said on Thursday that Lauterbach's reaction showed that the protests were right and important and that we would probably need more staying power. "We have this staying power." It is not about increasing doctors' incomes, but about sufficient and sustainable funding for existing outpatient structures.
Calls for an end to fee caps
The demands include putting an end to "budgets" with maximum fees for all specialist groups. In addition, a repealed regulation with extra fees for new patients in practices should be reintroduced. There are also complaints about overwork and too much bureaucracy, for example for billing and clarifications with health insurance companies. The Virchowbund was initially unable to provide any information on the number of practices involved because the strike is being organized on a decentralized basis. It was expected that several tens of thousands of practices would be closed. They were called upon to provide cover for emergencies.
Green Party health expert Janosch Dahmen criticized the actions between the holidays. "Many surgeries are already closed anyway," he told the German Press Agency. Patients should be able to rely on being treated by their doctor in an emergency. "Instead, colleagues in emergency care have to step in, for example in hospitals, where people need help in acute cases." Striking on the backs of patients in need of help is the wrong medicine. "Instead, the main focus next year must be on strengthening the role of GPs and pediatricians."
GKV boss: Employees must pay for wage increases
The head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds, Doris Pfeiffer, told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland: "What doctors or pharmacists want to receive more, supermarket cashiers and truck drivers have to pay for with their health insurance contributions." They also suffered from the increased prices. The gross net income of doctors in private practice has risen on average across Germany in recent years. Lauterbach said on ZDF television that he did not consider demands for more money to be justified. "With the exception of Switzerland, nowhere else in Europe are doctors' practices earning as much as in Germany."
Lauterbach said: "Simply pouring more money into a system as in the past - which doesn't really work well - we have simply practiced this solution too often. That will not be the focus." Specifically, however, the "crisis summit" in January will focus on better conditions, especially for GPs. For them, the fee budgets are to be abolished - as is already the case for pediatricians, according to ministry circles.
Income and expenditure of practices
Medical practices generate more than 70 percent of their income from billing the statutory health insurance funds. According to the latest figures from the Federal Statistical Office for 2021, the average income was 756,000 euros. This was offset by expenses of 420,000 euros. This resulted in an average net income of 336,000 euros per practice. However, this figure was influenced by practices with very high income and expenses, it said. Around half had revenues of up to 464,000 euros and a net profit of up to 233,000 euros. The figures also refer to group practices and care centers with several doctors.
The statisticians explained that the net income is not to be equated with the profit or income of the doctors. It represents the result of the financial year for the entire practice, but does not take into account, for example, expenses for old-age, invalidity, survivors' and health insurance for practice owners. Costs for personnel are included in the expenses. According to the Virchowbund, income tax and investments in medical equipment must also be paid out of this. On average, less than a quarter of the total fee revenue remains at the end.
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- Karl Lauterbach, the Health Minister and SPD politician, disagrees with the demand for fee increases during the doctors' protest on ZDF television.
- Dirk Heinrich, Chairman of the Virchow Association of General Practitioners, commended Lauterbach's reaction, stating that the protests were justified and necessary due to issues like overwork and bureaucracy.
- The demands include ending budgets with maximum fees for all specialist groups, reinstating a regulation for extra fees for new patients, and addressing overwork and excessive bureaucracy.
- Lauterbach, during an interview on ZDF, argued that demands for more money are not justified, as Germany has some of the highest-earning doctor practices in Europe.
- The traffic light coalition and the statutory health insurers (GKV) also criticized practice closures, emphasizing the need to address working conditions.
- Doris Pfeiffer, the head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds, contested Lauterbach's stance, claiming that employees should not bear the burden of wage increases.
- Despite generating over 70% of their income from billing statutory health insurance funds, German medical practices face challenges in terms of balancing income and expenses, with less than a quarter of the total fee revenue remaining at the end of the financial year.
Source: www.stern.de
