Overview
- A federal draft law circulated in mid‑June proposes an overall budget cap for psychotherapy and the removal of short‑term therapy surcharges to help close the statutory health‑insurance funding gap.
- Therapists and advocacy groups estimate that if the draft becomes law about 38 percent of therapy sessions nationwide could vanish, which they put at roughly 400,000 sessions per week beginning January 2027.
- Clinicians report immediate operational effects: at least one Leipzig therapist has paused plans for two new group therapies and others say they will stop expanding or may close practices if financing is capped.
- An earlier 4.5 percent fee cut that took effect on April 1 is already reducing income for providers and is cited by therapists as compounding the impact of the new proposal.
- Regional data from Saxony show about 1,100 practicing therapists with current waits of five to ten weeks for first consultations and four to six‑and‑a‑half months to start therapy, raising concern that cuts would worsen access and risk harm such as increased substance misuse and more severe illness.