Plans from Union and SPD
Pay at the specialist? – New system when making an appointment
According to the will of the Union and SPD, the first contact point for patients should in future be “primary physicians”. If you still want to go directly to the specialist, you should pay off from the perspective of the Federal Medical Association.
The Federal Medical Association supports black and red plans to control access to specialists via a “binding primary medicine system”. “A really smart patient control could help to use the tight medical resources much more efficiently and to reduce the costs as a whole,” said Medical President Klaus Reinhardt of the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. The family doctor should be the first point of contact and only forward to specialist practices if necessary, Reinhardt explained.
The health group in the coalition negotiations suggests a “binding primary doctor system”. Exceptions should apply to ophthalmology and gynecology. A special solution is to be developed for patients with a “specific chronic disease”. Around annual transfers are mentioned here.
The Union and SPD are promising from the measures as a whole, faster appointments and more targeted care. They also assume savings that could reach two billion euros in 2028.
No way to the specialist after “discretion”
Patients should continue to choose or change their doctors, “but can no longer be able to control any level of supply according to discretion,” said Reinhardt. It is also clear that someone who insists on treatment beyond the paths offered must then also contribute to the additional costs.
It could not be the task of doctors to collect penalty fees for the health insurance companies. The Federal Medical Association President cited a deductible as options, which the insured person was billed with the cash registers, right down to staggered cash tariffs.
“Praised land” promised
The board of the patient protection foundation, Eugen Brysch, reported doubts about the realizability of the plans of the Union and the SPD. “It is too good to be true. Patient control of general practitioners promises the promised country. Better patient care, timely specialist dates, cost savings in billions of billions should then be possible,” Brysch commented on the project.
However, it is unclear who is classified as chronically ill. This is 50 percent of adults. He also pointed out additional burdens for general practitioners. 2,000 patients are likely to be cared for per family practice. There are also regions where primary practices are already rejecting new patients, said Brysch of the dpa.
dpa
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
