Federal Minister of Health - Lauterbach wants better conditions for GPs
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach will address the growing shortage of general practitioners (Hausärzte) with better working conditions.
"We have too few general practitioners, they are unevenly distributed, and we have a great need for them," said the SPD politician on Friday during the submission of a bill in the Bundestag. Among other things, for general practitioners, as already for pediatricians, upper limits for penalties are to be abolished.
If there are already too few general practitioners, it cannot be that we do not pay them for all the services they provide, said Lauterbach. The law is intended to make the profession of medical doctors and medical doctors more attractive for medical personnel in the face of 5,000 vacant general practitioner positions and to keep the practice network afloat during approaching retirement waves.
Criticism from the opposition
The CDU health expert Tino Sorge monitored that much was promised, but the law was emptied out. The question arises, why not also for specialists should penalty limits be abolished.
Introduced for general practitioners should be a yearly flat rate for treating chronically ill patients. This is intended to prevent practice visits only for picking up prescriptions in every quarter and to create more treatment rooms. New "consultation flat rates" should be given to practices that meet certain criteria - for example, for home and nursing home visits or evening consultation hours.
Among general practitioners, the proportion of those over 60 years old is particularly high at 37%. There was no decline in numbers recently. According to the Federal Doctor's Register, there were 51,389 general practitioners at the end of 2023, 75 more than at the end of 2022. Ten years ago, there were 52,262.
Improved psychological offers for children and adolescents
According to the draft, psychotherapeutic offers for children and adolescents are to be improved. For planning requirements, a new separate doctor group is to be formed. For statutory health and long-term care insured persons, a digital information and comparison offer is to come. Accessible should be numbers on approvals and rejections of certain services. For municipalities, it should become easier to found medical care centers (MVZ) where doctors and medical personnel work under one roof.
To get the project off the ground, Lauterbach had to remove some controversial points from the coalition. In parliamentary deliberations, they are to be called up again. Among them are "health kiosks," i.e., easily accessible consultation stations for treatment and prevention in areas with many socially disadvantaged people. Lauterbach also wants to push for an end to coverage for homeopathic services.
- In response to the shortage of general practitioners in Germany, SPD politician Karl Lauterbach aims to improve their working conditions.
- Lauterbach stated that there are too few general practitioners and they are unevenly distributed, highlighting the need for them.
- The proposed law seeks to abolish upper limits for penalties for general practitioners, similar to what was done for pediatricians.
- Criticizing the proposed law, CDU health expert Tino Sorge questioned why penalty limits shouldn't be abolished for specialists as well.
- The law aims to introduce a yearly flat rate for treating chronically ill patients for general practitioners to encourage more treatments.
- With the high proportion of general practitioners over 60 years old at 37%, there has been no decline in numbers recently, according to the Federal Doctor's Register.
