Thousands of clinics in Germany remain closed to protest government policies
02.10.2023
Thousands of German family physicians and specialists stayed away from practice on Monday, keeping their clinics closed, in protest against the federal government’s health policies. The German Medical Doctors Association believes that the government’s policy “saves too much money”.
(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) On Monday (October 2), thousands of family doctors and specialists’ clinics in Germany closed their doors to protest against the federal government’s health policies. The protest was initiated by the German Resident Doctors Association (Virchowbund), and nearly 20 physician associations and health insurance physician associations responded to the call. The German Hospital Doctors Association expects a five-digit number of clinic closures across the country.
On the protest website, the association argued that politicians and health insurance companies had imposed “painful austerity measures” for decades. The main purpose of the protests is to draw attention to professional shortages, excessive bureaucracy, inflation and high energy costs, as well as the federal government’s austerity policies.
Dirk Heinrich, president of the German Association of Resident Doctors, told German TV channel “Morning Magazine” on Monday that clinics can no longer care for patients in the way they want to. Due to austerity measures and service cuts, there are fewer and fewer days available for patients to make appointments. He pointed to the so-called “new patient rules” that were scrapped earlier this year, which since 2019 had provided doctors with special financial incentives to accept new patients and provide additional appointments at short notice. Heinrich demanded that the initiative be reinstated.
On the eve of the protests, the Social Democratic Federal Health Minister Lauterbach questioned demands for increased funding. Lauterbach wrote on social media platform The average (median) after deducting all costs is 230,000 euros per year.” He asked rhetorically: “Do employees’ contribution rates need to be increased so that wages continue to rise?”
The German Doctors Association accused Lauterbach of focusing only on hospitals and ignoring the needs of clinic doctors. The association pointed out that the actual amount of physicians’ income was different from what Lauterbach stated. The actual annual surplus was 172,903 euros, and after deducting pensions, health insurance and nursing insurance and income tax, the net income was 85,555 euros.
Frank Dastych and Armin Beck, Hesse presidents of the German Association of Health Insurance Physicians (KV), previously said: “The federal health minister accepts and recognizes the collapse of medical clinics and outpatient care in Germany, and Hesse The situation is more unstable than ever.”
According to the Association of Physicians with Statutory Health Insurance (KBV), clinics should provide comprehensive medical emergency services during protests. Monday’s day of protests will be followed by Germany’s National Day on Tuesday. The Medical Association wrote on X that before the clinic opened on Wednesday, the patient service phone number was 116117 (without the area code). Heinrich, president of the German Hospital Doctors Association, emphasized on Monday: “Every patient with urgent needs today will of course be taken care of.”
(dpa)
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2023-10-02 10:35:16
