exclusive
In a non-public session of the Bundestag, the Federal Audit Office took stock of its criticism of the federal government’s pandemic management. The auditors made recommendations for the future.
By Markus Grill, WDR/NDR
The Bundestag’s Audit Committee consists of 19 members of all parties and is tasked with monitoring the federal government’s expenditure. Once a year, it meets in a closed session with high-ranking employees of the Federal Audit Office. According to information from NDR, WDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung, among other things, to take stock of the massively excessive spending during the Corona pandemic, especially during the term of office of Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU).
According to an internal presentation, the Federal Audit Office reiterated points of criticism that it had already raised earlier. The meeting focused in particular on conclusions for future crises.
The Ministry of Health alone spent more than 100 billion euros between 2020 and 2023 to combat the coronavirus pandemic. In eleven reports to date, the Federal Audit Office has now reviewed two-thirds of this expenditure, and a further five audits are still pending. Among other things, the Court of Auditors is currently examining whether the need for vaccines has been adequately calculated.
Federal Audit Office: More money spent than necessary
The auditors’ assessment so far: Regardless of whether it is about new intensive care beds, the billing of corona tests or the purchase of masks – in the auditors’ opinion, the federal government has spent more money everywhere than was necessary to protect the population. The Federal Audit Office therefore recommends setting clear rules for spending in future crises and not overestimating the need.
In addition, the government should take quicker action in future crises and not provide those affected with more money for compensation payments than is actually necessary. This is according to confidential meeting documents that WDR, NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung. In addition, the government should ensure from the outset that controls are in place to determine what happens with the money, thereby “minimizing the possibility of abuse.”
At the time, the federal government spent around 7.2 billion euros on the procurement of personal protective equipment. The Federal Audit Office criticised the purchase of masks in particular for “massive over-procurement far in excess of what was needed”. It said that “large stocks were procured with no benefit for combating the pandemic”. The Court of Auditors reprimanded the then Ministrywith the majority of these masks already destroyed or in the process of being destroyed.
High follow-up costs
In addition, there are “follow-up costs to date of 460 million euros for storage, logistics, external advice and destruction,” according to the presentation for the confidential meeting of the members of the Bundestag.
Spahn himself justifies his actions by referring to the great need that prevailed at the time. “Our guiding principle at the time was ‘It’s better to have than to need’,” he said when asked about the accusation that he had bought too much and too expensively. In general, however, he admits: “We can learn from the Federal Audit Office’s reports on mask procurement for future pandemics.”
The presentation now available shows, for example, that a lot of money also went to hospitals – not to treat corona patients, but to avoid treating other patients. These so-called lump sums amounted to 18.6 billion euros. The financial auditors criticize the “overcompensation compared to the actual loss of income of the hospitals”.
In addition, the funds were used to artificially keep hospitals alive that would have had to change their structures without the pandemic. This led to a “consolidation of inefficient hospital structures”.
“Flat-rate remuneration excessive”
The corona tests were almost as expensive as the flat-rate fees. The federal government spent a total of 17.8 billion euros on them. The Federal Audit Office criticised the fact that the “flat-rate fees are excessive and the way they are calculated is not documented in a comprehensible manner”. More than a year ago, research by NDR, WDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung revealed that, for example, the purchase prices for PCR test kits were far cheaper than the laboratory physicians’ lobby had claimed to the health insurance companies.
In response to an earlier inquiry, Spahn said that it was crucial, especially during the first year of the pandemic, to be able to offer PCR tests quickly and reliably.
The Federal Audit Office also criticised the fact that the “control options provided by billing offices were inadequate”. Rapid test centres in particular were able to bill for tests without providing any evidence. The Berlin State Criminal Police Office had estimated that around one billion euros had been billed nationwide for fictitious tests that had not actually been carried out.
According to the auditors, Spahn’s ministry at the time also paid more than necessary for a campaign in which pensioners could pick up protective masks free of charge from pharmacies in the winter of 2020/2021. In its meeting with the budget politicians in the Bundestag, the Court of Auditors criticised: “Remuneration to pharmacies almost four times as high as the purchase price of the masks”. A spokesman for the Federal Audit Office said in response to a request from WDR, NDR and SZ that masks were “already being offered in retail stores at a fraction of the reimbursement amounts set for pharmacists.”
This measure will cost the federal government around 2.1 billion euros, according to the Court of Auditors. The Ministry of Health has previously explained the difference between the possible purchase price and the reimbursement price of six euros by saying that the pharmacists’ labor costs had been added on as a flat rate.
Payment “without requesting receipts”
From 2020 to 2022, the care facilities received a total of 7.3 billion euros extra to compensate for “pandemic-related additional expenses and reduced income”. But only ten percent of the applications are subject to a follow-up audit, criticize the auditors. In addition, the details are difficult to verify. The care facilities received a further 4.4 billion euros to carry out corona tests. Here, too, the payment was made “without requesting receipts,” as the Federal Audit Office explained to the MPs.
The Federal Audit Office cannot estimate how much of the 100 billion euros the Ministry of Health could have saved, says a spokesman. The individual issues are too diverse and complex for that. In addition, the audit of other items worth billions, such as vaccine procurement, has not yet been completed.
The Ministry of Health itself recently responded that the Federal Audit Office consistently assesses the facts retrospectively and does not take into account the unprecedented challenges at the beginning of the pandemic.
In his reply to WDR, NDR and SZ, the Federal Audit Office now emphasised that when it came to the question of how much of this expenditure was unnecessary, the pressure to make decisions at the time had certainly been taken into account from today’s perspective and that decisions in March 2020, for example, had to be made under great uncertainty.
