Overview

• Health Minister Nina Warken’s cabinet proposal targets roughly €2 billion in GKV savings, with about 90 percent coming from cuts to psychiatric and psychosomatic services and a cap on hospitals’ base rates.
• Warken says she will keep current sick-note rules in place for now, signaling openness to discuss adjustments after the infection season but calling the present setup a balanced solution.
• The AOK Fehlzeiten-Report 2025 records a new high of 228 sick-note cases per 100 members and an average of 2.3 per insured, driven largely by respiratory illnesses; telephone certifications accounted for only about 1.5 percent of such cases.
• KBV chief Andreas Gassen proposes delaying mandatory medical certificates to the fourth or fifth day and ending employers’ ability to demand earlier proof, while Rheinland-Palatinate’s Clemens Hoch floats up to two weeks; employer groups reject the ideas.
• Hospitals report acute financial strain, with Berlin’s Park-Klinik Weißensee entering insolvency, the DKG warning planned cuts threaten care and break past promises, and the GKV leadership urging a broader spending cap as costs outpace revenues.