With mandatory vaccination, politicians want to increase the vaccination quota – and the Bavarian Minister of Health already has an idea how this could be implemented. However, this is explosive for several reasons.
The federal government has achieved the vaccination target of 30 million vaccinations by the end of the year. According to this, 70 percent of the population have been vaccinated twice, 74 percent have received the first dose. And 36 percent have been boosted so far (as of December 27, 2021). The federal government is aiming for a vaccination quota of 80 percent as its next target. If Olaf Scholz has his way, this should be achieved on January 7th. However, it is more likely that the target will not be reached until the end of January.
In order to further increase the vaccination quota, the federal government is currently debating a general vaccination requirement. So far this has been decided for medical and nursing staff. By March 15, all employees in these areas must provide evidence of a complete vaccination. The Bundestag should vote on the general compulsory vaccination without being compulsory for a parliamentary group.
Compulsory vaccination: Holetschek wants higher health insurance contributions for unvaccinated people
How a possible compulsory vaccination should be implemented has not yet been determined. However, there are initial ideas. Bavaria’s Minister of Health, Klaus Holetschek (CSU), proposed not only imposing fines in the event of violations. In addition, financial consequences with the health insurance company could also be considered. “We should also check whether malus regulations in the area of statutory health insurance would be possible and sensible,” said Holetschek to the editorial network in Germany. “Because the risk for unvaccinated people of getting seriously ill with Corona is significantly increased,” said the chairman of the conference of health ministers. “The examination of whether this would be possible and sensible, if necessary, has to be carried out by the federal government in the context of implementing a general vaccination requirement.”
The Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians in Berlin had also spoken out in favor of unvaccinated people sharing the costs of hospital services. The editorial network Germany cites figures from the AOK, according to which the treatment of a corona patient who is ventilated with an Ecmo machine costs an average of 92,000 euros. It is around 34,200 euros for artificial ventilation without Ecmo and an average of around 5800 euros for corona patients who are not ventilated.
Additional contributions for every risk?
Criticism of these considerations came from the board of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, Eugen Brysch, among others. “Holetschek shouldn’t play with fire. That releases centrifugal forces that we can no longer control,” said Brysch of the German press agency. The head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), Andreas Gassen, strictly rejected higher health insurance contributions for those who do not want to vaccinate and those who oppose the vaccination. “The solidarity statutory health insurance with over 100 years of history knows no risk-adapted premiums,” said Gassen of the “Rheinische Post”.
Holetschek did not name any preferences. According to the RND report, higher health insurance contributions for unvaccinated people, participation in treatment costs or the cancellation of sickness benefits would be considered. The last two options are already regulated, namely for follow-up treatments after aesthetic operations, tattoos or piercings that are not medically indicated. Then “the health insurance company has to share the costs with the insured in an appropriate amount and to refuse or reclaim the sickness benefit in whole or in part for the duration of this treatment,” it says in the Social Security Code.
Brysch said that if this were to apply in connection with mandatory vaccination, everything had to be put to the test that posed a risk to humans. “It starts with exercise and continues through smoking,” says Brysch. For example, to share smokers or obese people in the cost of their treatment if they became ill as a result of their lifestyle, “would be a wrong path”. Cosmetic surgery, piercings or tattoos are about risky interventions. “Not vaccinated is in no way comparable with it. Failure to do so is something completely different from acting. It would be a 180-degree turnaround in the social security code,” said Brysch.
“In the logic of the Bavarian health minister, there would also have to be surcharges for smokers or overweight patients in the future, since these also regularly trigger high treatment costs,” said Gassen. It also remains a mystery how malus rules are supposed to work for people who are insured under transfer payments. “It would be better to convince the people,” said the KVB boss of the “Rheinische Post”.
Stricter protective measures instead of fines
World Medical President Frank Ulrich Montgomery has also spoken out against higher health insurance contributions for unvaccinated people in Germany. The German health system knows no “fault-based contribution payments”, said Montgomery of the “Rheinische Post”: “The smoker does not have to contribute to the costs of his treatment, the skier gets the broken leg treated and financed like everyone else. That is a good thing. “
Montgomery, on the other hand, supported the proposal of the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) to introduce an FFP2 mask requirement as widely as possible. There is no doubt that FFP2 masks protect better than simple surgical masks, said the world medical president. It therefore makes sense to “make wearing FFP2 masks mandatory in times of high incidence”.
Holetschek, on the other hand, called on the parties in the Bundestag to initiate mandatory vaccination in January. “We have to start the general vaccination requirement as soon as the facility-related vaccination requirement comes into effect.” Many employees in clinics and nursing homes felt stigmatized by the new regulation. “With a general vaccination requirement, we ensure equal treatment and also prevent even more caregivers from leaving their jobs.”
Source From: Stern
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