On-call medical service: Is insurance compulsory?
The governing parties CDU and Greens as well as the opposition party FDP want to abolish compulsory social insurance for on-call doctors. The three parties announced in Kiel on Thursday that the state government should lobby the federal government to exempt so-called pool doctors from the additional social insurance obligation, just like emergency doctors.
"Pool doctors significantly relieve the burden on their colleagues in private practice and therefore also on inpatient structures," said CDU politician Hauke Hansen. If the social insurance obligation remains in place, Schleswig-Holstein will lose the majority of its medical workforce in this area - with correspondingly negative consequences for the provision of care.
Jasper Balke (Greens) also stated that staff could not be dispensed with in view of the shortage of specialists. "The ruling of the Federal Social Court must therefore be followed by a swift amendment of the law at federal level in order to ensure that outpatient emergency services can continue to be provided."
Following a ruling by the Federal Social Court, the Schleswig-Holstein Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KVSH) terminated the contracts of around 400 doctors at the end of the year. This affects so-called pool doctors who participate in the medical on-call service, the KVSH announced. According to the ruling, pool doctors working on a fee basis are not automatically considered self-employed if they are part of an emergency service organization.
Former Health Minister Heiner Garg (FDP) also fears that the ruling will mean that the medical on-call service can no longer be implemented as usual. In order to continue to ensure a well-functioning, nationwide on-call service, the pool doctors would have to be exempted from the social insurance obligation by a change in the law, he emphasized.
Parliament should consider exempting pool doctors from the additional social insurance obligation, as suggested by the governing parties and opposition. The absence of pool doctors due to compulsory social insurance could negatively impact the state's healthcare provision.
Source: www.dpa.com
