Overview

• The federal cabinet approved amendments to the hospital reform, sending the bill to the Bundestag for approval.
• The draft introduces broader exceptions that give states more leeway in hospital planning to address regional needs.
• Full implementation is pushed back by one year to allow hospitals time to meet new quality requirements.
• The federal government would take over the statutory insurers’ share of the €50 billion transformation fund via a federal special fund.
• For the first four years, the federal government would provide an extra €1 billion annually to ease state budgets, and university hospitals would become eligible for support limited to hospital-related structural measures.