The Second Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe rejected the emergency motions on Thursday. Members of the Greens and the Left Party, as well as the Left Party parliamentary group, had argued in separate motions that the consultation period was too short. The government had introduced many amendments at short notice, whose impact could no longer be assessed.
In addition to the health reform, the Bundestag may also pass the Building Modernization Act, known as the heating law. Friedrich Merz (CDU) said in his government statement: “Tomorrow, at least I hope, we will put statutory health insurance on a new, affordable footing in the Bundestag and Bundesrat.” The black-red coalition is determined to implement the reform, as otherwise a rise in contribution rates threatens that would make employment in Germany impossible.
The multibillion-euro savings package includes, among other things, restrictions on the free co-insurance of family members and higher additional contributions. The government also plans to reduce the federal subsidy to the statutory health insurance funds. The reform has been criticized for weeks – by municipalities, doctors’ associations, and trade unions. ver.di board member Sylvia Bühler warned that the law would drastically worsen the quality of care and cost tens of thousands of jobs.
Source: Tagesschau
