SPD vice-Chairwoman Condemns โคProposal toโค Eliminate โฃdental Coverage โฃas “Anti-social”
Berlin – A proposal from the Union’s economic council to remove dental treatments, orthodontics, and treatment travel โฃcosts from statutory health insurance coverage has sparked fierce criticism from Dagmar Schmidt, โdeputy chairman of the SPD parliamentary group. Schmidt labeled the suggestion “anti-social” and warnedโ it would exacerbateโข inequality within the German healthcare system.
“Dentalโข services in particular areโค without โifsโ and buts,” Schmidt told Reuters on Tuesday. โ”The proposal to โคdelete these โservices leads to even greater inequality in the health system.” she argued for a broader โคdebate onโ financing social security systems,โฃ referencing the โฃpotential inclusionโค of civil servants in statutory health insurance, and dismissed the proposal as originating from “privileged groups โคthat are not affected anyway.”
The Union’s โeconomic council’s ten-point โplan, aimedโ at bolstering Germany’s economicโข and investment โlandscape, suggested individuals could โฃsecure these services privately. This plan has also drawn condemnation from within the CDU itself, with Dennis Radtke, chairmanโ of the CDA workers’โ wing, calling it “more โขthan โคcynical” that a โขgroup of primarily privately insured individuals would propose such measures impacting the majority of the population.
The โขdebate โขcomes as Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) seeks solutions to address risingโ healthcare costs andโ stabilize contribution rates for โhealth and nursing care โinsurance, as reported by welt. The escalating costs are prompting aโฃ search for new proposals to maintainโข the financial stability ofโ theโฃ system.