Overview
- The health minister told the Bundestag that a regulation to implement the long-postponed increase will be launched in spring.
- Reporting points to lifting the per‑package fixed fee from €8.35 to €9.50 after last year’s pause over roughly €1 billion in extra annual costs for the funds.
- SPD health voices back the coalition pledge yet require a contribution‑stable design and broader GKV consolidation before new spending.
- The GKV-Spitzenverband rejects a blanket rise and argues for differentiated pay that better supports rural or structurally weak areas, with the coalition pact allowing a rural corridor up to €11 as the CSU notes.
- Pharmacists’ group ABDA welcomes the pledge and plans a 23 March protest with closures, while a separate reform bill would expand pharmacy services including vaccinations, preventive offerings and limited dispensing without a doctor’s prescription.