Kassen criticize Bahr's cancer prevention plans

Health insurance companies criticize cancer prevention plans of the Federal Minister of Health

07/26/2012

The bill submitted by the Federal Minister of Health Daniel Bahr advanced cancer prevention generated in the ranks of the statutory health insurance fierce criticism. While some key points are considered to be quite feasible, the planned cancer registry of the benefit-cost factor is so unworkable, is the critique of the funds. In addition, the costs of cancer screening should be better distributed.

Minister of Health Daniel Bahr (FDP) plans to expand cancer prevention in Germany. Benefit, financing and sustainability of the project, however, are questioned by the health insurance companies. In addition to breast cancer screening, cervical and colorectal cancer should now also be included in the free screening program.

In order to achieve a high pre-examination rate, the funds should be required by law to invite insured persons to the examinations. In addition, a Germany-wide cancer registry is to be installed, which is administrated individually by the individual federal states. According to the minister, the Cancer Prevention Reform should already be implemented in 2016.

Unilateral financing to let the health insurance companies
Basically, the idea of ​​expanding cancer screening in Germany, a good idea, said Doris Pfeiffer, chairman of the National Association of statutory health insurance (GKV), the project of the Minister of Health. However, the benefit, the responsibility and the financing would be in no good relationship, so the criticism of the head of the association in a newspaper interview. The costs of the preventive care program would have to be fully funded by the statutory health insurance, although the social circle of users was much larger, criticized Pfeiffer. Private health insurance benefits from the program, but according to previous plans is not required to contribute to the costs. Rather, the private funds are to be involved only on a volunteer basis.

Previous plans by the Federal Ministry of Health provide for an additional cost of about 100 million euros. The federal states have already signaled in the past that they do not want to participate in the costs. Accordingly, the health insurance would be disadvantaged unilaterally to the cost advantage of the private.

Doubts about the added benefit
The actual benefit of the cancer registry does not seem to be fully understood yet. Thus criticized the chairman of the board of the AOK Federal Association, Uwe Deh: „As the bill is now, it does not improve on cancer patients“.

The cancer registries should also be managed individually by the individual countries. A nationwide administration is missing, so Deh. Thus, the risk of multiple reports is very large, for example, if a patient moves to another state. Whether the obligatory invitations bring a higher benefit, could also be doubted. So now the demand for cervical cancer screening is very high. „A higher participation rate is hard to imagine“, explained the AOK boss. Instead of the submitted proposals, the Federal Ministry of Health should better support cancer patients in the search for suitable therapy and clinics, said Deh.

A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Health was relaxed despite the criticism. The critique of the coffers is one „usual detailed criticism in the course of a legislative procedure“. At the moment, the points of criticism would be examined and possibly incorporated into the draft. The proposed legislation aims to improve early detection, and the Clinical Cancer Registry will sustainably improve the care of cancer patients. These are key points on which the minister holds on, the spokesman said. (Sb)

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