Gesundheitsreform: Kassen und Ärzten streiten: Müssen Patienten länger warten?

Deutsche Krankenkassen criticize the medical associations over longer wait times for appointments. The head of the replacement association of health insurers, Ulrike Elsner, dismissed warnings from the Physicians' Association (KBV) as "scare tactics." The KBV chief, Andreas Gassen, told the Bild newspaper that the government had scrapped over 50 million outpatient appointments due to cuts.

Longer queue times would be exacerbated by a new reporting obligation. Removing a fixed appointment quota would block it from being available for patients. More appointments could only be achieved with more money. "No appointments have been scrapped," stated the chief of the statutory health insurance association (GKV), Florian Lanz.

He said that the honorarium reduction for faster appointment scheduling was removed because there were no faster appointments. Elsner also dismissed the claim that scrapping the so-called TSVG regulations would take millions of appointments away from insured people. The government's insurance premium stabilization law, which took effect in July, is set to remove some of these payment regulations.

For the practices, the loss of the so-called TSVG payment means a loss of approximately 1.64 billion euros per year. Elsner pointed to the 57.3 billion euros the GKV already spends on physician care this year. "Ending these incentives and double financing is overdue - because timely provision for insured people is already fully paid for by the regular, annually increasing total remuneration."

The KBV chief, however, criticized the policy for first removing the payment for additional appointments, then tightening the reporting obligation. After a decision by the Bundestag last week, contract physicians will be more strictly obliged to report appointments to the appointment services. "KBV chief stokes fear among insured people," said Elsner.

The chief of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, Eugen Brysch, criticized: "The Kassenärzte Lobby wants to torpedo outpatient care for nearly 75 million statutory insured people on the backs of patients and insured people." The government's plans to cut costs should be opposed on the backs of patients, said Brysch to the German Press Agency, without naming examples.