Practice fee departure Five euros per doctor visit?

Will soon be required € 5 per doctor visit by the insured?

As a study of the health insurance Barmer-Gek. revealed that Germans are increasingly going to the doctor. According to the Barmer study, a general practitioner in Germany treats about 45 patients a day and has a treatment and diagnosis time of just eight minutes per patient. According to the study, physicians in Germany have twice as many patient contacts in an international comparison. In 2004, the Germans went to the doctor 16.4 times. In 2009, Germans went to the doctor 18.1 times a year. The practice fee of 10 euros per quarter was u.a. introduced to minimize "unnecessary medical visits". But the opposite was the case, as the Barmer study shows. Obviously, it has not been possible to avoid expensive duplicate examinations and to promote qualified doctor visits.

Now, voices are louder advocating a departure from the practice fee. According to the picture, health economist Thomas Drabinski from the Institute for Microdata Analysis advocates the abolition of the practice fee. Drabinski said: "The practice fee has failed, it has no deterrent effect, and unnecessary medical visits could not be limited as hoped."

Instead of the practice fee, there are proposals that require a fee per physician contact between 2.50 to 5 euros. Alternatively, additional payments should be made according to the amount of the treatment costs.

The health expert of the SPD, Karl Lauterbach, however, is in favor of a complete cancellation of the practice fees. The abolition of practice fees could be offset by savings in overpriced drugs. In addition, a doctor's duty should be introduced for the first visit to a doctor, said Lauterbach.

About 10 million people insured under the law in Germany will have to supplement their health insurance contributions this quarter. Many health insurance plans according to media reports increases in their insurance contributions.
(23.01.2010)