Hospital reform: Federal Council threatens to block the mediation committee
Hospital reform: Federal Council threatens to block the mediation committee
Federal Council threatens Karl Lauterbach with a mediation committee: dispute over hospital reform
On Friday in the Federal Council in Berlin, there was a clear picture of the disagreement between the Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and the representatives of the federal states. The focus was on the controversial hospital care improvement law (KHVVVG). A broad front of the countries made it clear that the current draft of the law is not easily accepted.
Stephan Weil, Lower Saxony's Prime Minister (SPD), made it clear in the Federal Council that the discussion about the approval of this legislative project was not very effective: "A dispute over the emperor Bart". It became clear that without a comprehensive analysis of the effects of the law, no consent of the federal states could be expected. "You can't ask the countries to buy the cat in a sack," emphasized Weil. It is essential that constructive information from the countries would be taken seriously.
Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Health Manfred Lucha (Greens) sharply criticized Lauterbach's approach: "They pursue a highly elite approach," he accused the Federal Minister of Health. According to Lucha, Lauterbach left the consensus, which was reached a year ago by a common key point paper, and ignored the suggestions of the countries.
A similar opinion also represented Kerstin von der ceilings, Minister of Health of Schleswig-Holstein (CDU), who strongly criticized the Federal Minister's political management. No consensus had been achieved in 13 federal-state meetings so far, she reported. She warned against the consequences of hastily adopted laws and referred to the recently introduced Hospital Transparency Act, which is very controversial. "Take the warnings of the 16 countries and the entire German experts seriously," said of the ceilings.
The Federal Council ultimately threatened to appeal to the mediation committee, should there be no agreement with the Federal Ministry of Health. Lauterbach, in his response, tried to indicate that he could not implement many regulatory proposals from the federal states, since the parliamentary groups would also have to be involved. Lauterbach promised an impact analysis for September as soon as clarity about the ideas of the federal states.
Another criticism of the countries was the lack of bridging financing for hospitals and the insufficient consideration of specialist clinics in the draft law. Kerstin von der Keden described the law as a "bureaucracy building program", which mainly consists of "test and reporting requirements".
In response to the numerous allegations, Karl Lauterbach offered to set up a "jour fixe" in which the health ministers of the federal states or the prime ministers should meet every two weeks in the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG). Despite the tensions, he emphasized that the exchange with the countries was better than shown in public.
The importance of this argument should not be underestimated. The future of hospital care in Germany is at stake, and everyone involved is aware that a reform is inevitable. The only question is how it is designed and who ultimately keeps the upper hand.
- Nag