EDI - European Association of Dental Implantologists

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EDI
EDI News
Interview with Christa Stewens, Bavarian State Minister of Labour
and Social Welfare, Family Affairs and Women
Federal Health Fund:
“Dispose of it Properly!”
There is hardly a day on which the Federal Health Fund, whose stated objective is to reconcile the differences and financial
clout of the various statutory health insurers, does not make the headlines. EDI Journal had already reported on this.
Federal Minister for Health Ulla Schmidt and Chancellor Angela Merkel stubbornly cling to the fund and its starting date
of 1 January 2009. But they appear to be the only ones. Bavaria, Germany’s largest state by area, will be electing a new state
parliament this autumn – and this election may show the federal government how little appreciation their Federal Health Fund
is getting. BDIZ EDI president Christian Berger talked to Christa Stewens, Bavarian State Minister of Labour and Social Welfare,
Family Affairs and Women, about the homework that Federal Minister for Health Ulla Schmidt still has to do.
Ms Stewens, your party – the Christian Social Union,
CSU, the regional Bavarian conservative party – has
approved the Federal Health Fund at a federal level.
Why do many within the CSU no longer stand by this
Great Coalition compromise?
We stand by what we have agreed on. But we also
expect the same from our coalition partner. This is
why we will look closely at whether what we agreed
on and what has been defined in the pertinent law is
being both respected and actually implemented. This
also includes the convergence clause, exactly as
defined by the law, but also the correct implementation
of the morbidity-based risk adjustment pool and
workable insolvency rules that eliminate any liability
on the part of the State of Bavaria. To this day, only
fragments of the expert opinion on the convergence
clause required by the law – which is supposed to
quantify the effects of the Federal Health Fund
before it is realized – have been completed. We cannot
accept that and we will not accept that.
Your ministry has tasked a committee of experts led
by Professor Udo Steiner, former judge at the Federal
Constitutional Court, to examine the situation of
physicians and dentists in private practice. What is
their objective, and when can we expect results?
This committee will investigate where and how we
can assist physicians and dentists in private practice.
This is a fairly tall order, because it is the federal government
that creates the legal framework for statutory
health insurance and, consequently, for all contractual
medical providers. The only way Bavaria can
exert its influence is indirectly, through Bundesrat,
the Second Chamber, on a federal level. The expert
committee will therefore mainly be looking for
potential solutions that can be implemented at the
Bavarian level. In addition to the professional fees of
Bavarian physicians, we are also talking about a new
generation of physicians and about ensuring adequate
access to general practitioners in rural areas.
The goal is to give recommendations for improving
the situation of Bavarian physicians in private practice,
especially general practitioners. A number of
suggestions will be published by this upcoming
autumn.
Christa Stewens:
Basic tariff may
constitute a
threat.