Physician president calls for discussion about the money

Health system: Physician president calls for intensive discussion about money

12/01/2012

The ongoing discussions on the financing of the health care system have led the President of the German Medical Association, Dr. med. Frank Ulrich Montgomery, prompted to call them up as an issue at the upcoming Medical Day in May. The doctors should louder to participate in the discussion about the money, said the medical president.

In the past, physicians have been more concerned about the availability of financial resources in the healthcare system. Their mission was the medical care of the population and not the organization of the funds, decided the doctors still on the Medical Day 2008 in Ulm. At this year's meeting of doctors in Nuremberg, however, the President of the German Medical Association now wants to initiate a participation of physicians in the discussion on the financing of the health system.

Political positioning to the statutory health insurance conceivable
As announced by the President of the Federal Council of the Federal Republic of Germany, the future financing of the health care system should form a priority topic on the Medical Day in May. Practice fees, additional contributions, citizen insurance and austerity measures - the doctors should also position themselves after the presentation of Montgomery to the difficult issues. „Meanwhile, the doctors have realized that they have to participate“, said the medical president at the New Year's press conference of the German Medical Association on Wednesday in Berlin. Unlike the Medical Day 2008, when the medical profession decided against a political position with a two-thirds majority, Montgomery can also imagine this year that the Medical Day in Nuremberg will agree on political positions on the SHI. However, the German Medical Association has deliberately also dispensed with a lead application on this subject, since opinion-forming in the medical profession should not be influenced by prescribed positions. On the medical day in May, both the health policy spokesman of the CDU parliamentary group, Jens Spahn, who advocated the premium model, as well as the SPD health politician, Karl Lauterbach, advocate of civil insurance invited.

Model of additional contributions too timid
Although the invitation of the two spokespersons for health policy should enable an open discussion, the position of Montgomery at this point is not completely neutral. For example, the President of the German Medical Association criticized the premium financing of the healthcare system enforced by the CDU, CSU and FDP for additional contributions as too timid. In this way, the health fund also always remains dependent on economic developments. Instead, therefore, a financing is needed, „which is less dependent on the economy and more responsive to demographic change“, stressed Montgomery. Here, for example, physicians should also discuss whether, in addition to wages and salaries, rents and capital income are not used to calculate premiums.

Citizen insurance as turbo ignition for the two-class medicine
However, according to the ideas of the SPD, this has not yet been taken into account in the model of the civil insurance. And although Montgomery is a longtime SPD member, he considers the citizen insurance therefore a maldevelopment. The previously considered civil insurance model „is the turbo ignition for the two-class medicine“, emphasized the President of the German Medical Association. For here too, those who can afford it would escape the uniformity of citizens' insurance and resort to additional fee-based services of the doctors. It is the doctors' right to make offers.

Possibilities to save costs in the health system
Montgomery also wants to discuss ways of cutting costs in the healthcare system at the Medical Day in May. Here the President of the German Medical Association cited examples of efficiency reserves, which in his view were too high an administrative burden in the SHI. The bureaucracy and control delusion of health insurance billions of euros would be wasted, Montgomery stressed. The Federal Medical Council President also cut the practice fee as another topic that could be discussed in the context of this year's Medical Day. Montgomery made it no secret that he would like to abolish the practice fee, not least because it had unfolded no control effect. A decline in the doctor's visit was not achieved by the lump sum of ten euros. Instead of the revenue from the practice fee, the health insurance funds should therefore receive a compensation from the health fund.

Doctors call for participation in the implementation of the supply structure law
According to Frank Ulrich Montgomery, another important aspect of this year's Medical Day will be the implementation of the Provision Structure Act, which began in January. This must be critically accom- panied by the medical profession and the individual federal states should be invited to include the medical associations in the provincial state budgets committees, emphasized Montgomery. So far this is not intended everywhere. In particular, in order to avoid the threatened shortage of doctors in rural areas, which has already been discussed many times, it would be necessary to improve the interaction between continuing medical training and the possibilities of later professional practice. „For that you need the medical associations“, stressed Montgomery. (Fp)