States demand emergency aid program for hospitals from the federal government
In a joint Bundesrat initiative, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein and Saxony-Anhalt are calling on the federal government to introduce an emergency aid programme for hospitals in financial difficulties. "The federal government must now make a clear commitment to stabilizing hospitals financially. After all, many hospitals are experiencing major difficulties due to the rapid rise in operating costs. The Federal Government must no longer ignore this," said Bavaria's Health Minister Judith Gerlach (CSU) on Tuesday in Munich. The next meeting of the Bundesrat is next Friday.
"It would also be an important signal for the planned hospital reform to stabilize endangered hospitals now", said Gerlach. It would serve no one if many hospitals had to file for insolvency before the reform could take effect. "The main victims of such a cold structural change would be the patients."
The Bundesrat initiative was launched under the leadership of North Rhine-Westphalia. "Our core demand is that, as a first step, the federal government stabilizes the hospital landscape in the short term through an emergency aid programme for hospitals amounting to five billion euros," said Gerlach. This is necessary due to the unrefinanced cost increases from 2022 and 2023. Due to high inflation, costs had recently risen more than the current hospital funding could absorb. "The German Hospital Federation expects a deficit of as much as ten billion euros at the end of 2023. A wave of insolvencies must be prevented."
In addition to emergency financial aid, the four states are proposing further instruments in their Bundesrat initiative. These include an amendment to federal legislation to enable regular financing of full collectively agreed wage increases for all professional groups from 2024, including outside of the care budget, as well as full increases in material costs. "The shortened payment periods for hospital invoices for health insurance companies must be made permanent beyond 2024," emphasized Gerlach.
The Federal Council, in response to the states' demands, should consider introducing an emergency aid program to support financially struggling hospitals. As stated by Bavaria's Health Minister Judith Gerlach, ignoring the hospitals' financial difficulties could lead to mass insolvencies before the planned hospital reform takes effect, negatively impacting patients.
Source: www.dpa.com
