Healthcare system Rösler presents savings plans

Health system: Rösler presents savings plans: The Federal Minister of Health Philipp Rösler (FDP) has presented in Berlin the future savings concept, which should bring almost one and a half million euros less in costs, for the German health system. An important point here are savings in drug prices.

The Federal Minister of Health Philipp Rösler (FDP) has presented in Berlin, the future savings concept, which should bring almost one and a half million euros less in costs, for the German health care system. An important point here are savings in drug pricesn. It should be a reduction of particularly high drug prices and at the same time increase the compulsory deduction by 10 percent, from currently six to 16 percent in the future. Because in the past year, the costs for the funds amounted to around 30 billion euros - with rising tendency. And as previously Rösler had already announced, the statutory health insurance company with the pharmaceutical companies in the future negotiate prices and vote them. So it should be ensured that the pharmaceutical companies can not make the prices alone. In addition, the manufacturers should prove the benefits.

Now the Federal Council must agree and this could be problematic. Because in the federal states where pharmaceutical companies are based, circumcision plays an important role in economic terms and could lead one or other prime minister to reject it.

One exception should still exist in the influence on the drug prices: Patent-protected funds are still supposed to be priced, presumably for a period of one year, by the pharmaceutical companies themselves. Critics hold the plans always for current election campaign for the election in North Rhine-Westphalia and doubt that an implementation will take place. (Thorsten Fischer, Naturopath Osteopathy, 26.03.2010)