Ear, nose and throat doctors are among the top earners. Their fee turnover averages 230,000 euros per year. Nevertheless, several ENT associations are calling for no more tonsillectomy in children until the doctors get more money for it from the health insurance companies.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (59, SPD) criticizes this sharply. Lauterbach to BILD am SONNTAG: “Letting children suffer in order to extort higher fees is unethical and unacceptable.”
The doctor and FDP member of the Bundestag Andrew Ullmann (60) sees this as a “violation of the Hippocratic Oath”, the medical principle to help the sick.
The greed of ENT doctors is great. Because since January, all specialists for complicated outpatient procedures have received 60 million euros more. In return, the remuneration for simple surgeries was slightly reduced (almond surgery: 4 euros less).
There is an additional 27 euros for aftercare for the children. The removal of the tonsils (a practice manages several surgeries per hour) with subsequent monitoring of the small patients flushes 214 euros into the practice coffers.
SPD faction deputy Dagmar Schmidt (49) calls on the ENT associations to “put forward their economic interests in the bodies provided for this purpose and to provide decent medical care to the children, who are really least responsible for it”.
Bavaria’s Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (58, CSU) calls on “the associations not to carry out their concerns at the expense of children’s health”.
According to Holetschek, it can have serious consequences for children if an enlarged tonsil is not treated. “Breathing disorders, sleep disorders or impaired ventilation of the middle ears can be the result.” In the worst case, this can lead to cardiovascular diseases or middle ear infections.
This article comes from BILD am SONNTAG. The ePaper of the entire issue is available here.
