Reform “changes the rules”: Charité boss: austerity package ensures “massively more bureaucracy”

With the austerity package, the federal government wants to relieve the burden on health insurance companies. But the costs just seem to shift. According to its own information, the Charité loses 80 million euros in income - and gains a lot of bureaucracy.

The head of the Charité accuses the federal government of increasing administrative costs in hospitals. “The austerity package changes the rules according to which our services are paid,” said Heyo Kroemer to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. In the future, the medical service of the health insurance companies will check even more intensively whether the services provided correspond exactly to the regulations, said Kroemer. "This creates massively more bureaucracy because we have to prove in even more cases that we are adhering to all regulations."

With the austerity package in the health system, the federal government wants to keep health insurance contributions stable. The cuts also hit hospitals. The Charité, Germany's largest university hospital, could lose 80 million euros in income next year. “This is a forecast so far, we don’t know exactly yet,” said Kroemer. He relies on artificial intelligence and new IT systems to save costs and become more efficient.

If the Charité had to cut expenses as a result of the austerity package, it could allow doctors' fixed-term contracts to expire. “That would affect our colleagues and our performance,” said Kroemer. "We definitely don't want that, we need the young doctors." The austerity package is “absolutely necessary,” said Kroemer. However, it does not follow a structural consideration, but saves the same in all hospitals - "regardless of how important they are for care."

The austerity package that has already been approved by the Union and SPD coalition factions is intended to relieve the coffers of sharply increasing expenses in order to prevent further increases in contributions. But black and red are still planning a few additions. Among other things, commitments to the states to approve the austerity law in the Federal Council in the summer are to be implemented. The then Health Minister Nina Warken had promised the states an additional 550 million euros for the clinics. The coalition is now also planning regulations to secure psychotherapeutic care, which no longer made it into the package.