Overview
- The governing coalition agreed on a 34‑point package on Wednesday that bundles tax cuts for lower and middle incomes, pension changes, health‑insurance fixes and labour‑market reforms.
- The plan promises roughly €600 a year for the average household through targeted tax relief but finances those cuts with savings in the statutory health system and pension adjustments.
- A central flashpoint is the end of telephone sick notes and a requirement for a medical certificate from day one, a measure that doctors' groups and unions say will overload practices and reflects mistrust of patients.
- Health ministers softened parts of the draft over the weekend by raising federal transfers to statutory insurers by about €1.4 billion for 2027 and narrowing some family burdens, yet disputes over hospital cuts and pharma rebates remain.
- The package faces street protests, boos at regional events, internal dissent in the SPD and threats of constitutional review, and its final shape will be decided in Bundestag and possibly Bundesrat debates where unions, doctors and states can press for changes.