Germany Approves Major Hospital Reform to Restructure Healthcare System
The reform aims to address financial pressures, enhance care quality, and implement a new funding model, but faces criticism over rural access and funding gaps.
- The German Bundesrat has approved a sweeping hospital reform proposed by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, set to begin implementation on January 1, 2025, with full rollout by 2029.
- The reform replaces the current case-based payment system with a model where 60% of funding is allocated for maintaining essential services, aiming to reduce unnecessary treatments and improve care quality.
- Critics, including hospital associations and local officials, warn that the changes could lead to closures of smaller rural hospitals, increasing travel times for patients in remote areas.
- A €50 billion transformation fund will support restructuring efforts, but concerns remain over underfunding from inflationary pressures in recent years and its impact on struggling facilities.
- The reform introduces 'performance groups' to standardize care quality nationwide, while also exempting hospital mergers from antitrust scrutiny to encourage regional consolidation.
Stern 
Die Rheinpfalz 
Die Zeit Stern Stern 
Sächsische Zeitung Stern 
Der Tagesspiegel Der Tagesspiegel 
DER SPIEGEL Stern Die Rheinpfalz 
Augsburger Allgemeine Stern Die Zeit 
Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung Stern Stern Der Tagesspiegel Stern Der Tagesspiegel 
Die Tageszeitung Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung Stern Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung Augsburger Allgemeine Sächsische Zeitung Der Tagesspiegel Der Tagesspiegel Stern Stern 
Süddeutsche Zeitung 
RP ONLINE DER SPIEGEL Stern Sächsische Zeitung Die Zeit DER SPIEGEL Der Tagesspiegel Der Tagesspiegel RP ONLINE 
WELT 
FOCUS online Der Tagesspiegel Der Tagesspiegel Stern Stern Die Zeit Der Tagesspiegel Stern Stern Stern Sächsische Zeitung Die Tageszeitung Stern Der Tagesspiegel Die Zeit Augsburger Allgemeine 
Neues Deutschland Neues Deutschland Augsburger Allgemeine Der Tagesspiegel Stern Die Zeit 