The states primarily fear the financial consequences for hospitals. Lower Saxony’s Health Minister Andreas Philippi (SPD) considers a reform of the statutory health insurance fundamentally necessary. But hospitals cannot simply save the funds they would lose under the law, he said.
The Lower Saxony Hospital Association calculates that hospitals in the state would lose 750 million euros under the law. They could only compensate for this amount by cutting staff – purely mathematically, they would have to eliminate 10,000 positions. An orderly restructuring of the hospital landscape would no longer be possible, according to hospital representatives.
The Hospital Association in Schleswig-Holstein calls it a “blunt austerity law” that will further worsen the already strained economic situation of hospitals. Hamburg’s Health Senator Melanie Schlotzhauer (SPD) called the law a “pure savings law.” Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) wants more time for consultations, among other things to secure full cost reimbursement for hospital staff wages. The state’s Hospital Association fears a collapse of the hospital landscape if hospitals are short 100 million euros.
Source: www.ndr.de
