Berlin, Germany – Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken (CDU) โคhas firmly ruledโ out reintroducing a flat-rate “practice fee” โfor doctorS visits, a policy
Berlin – A dispute is escalating within Germany’s governing coalition โover โtheโ future of care level 1 in the long-term careโ insurance system, with the CDU signaling opennessโ to โits abolition while the SPD firmly rejects performance cuts. The debate centers on addressing a growing financial strain on โขthe insurance system,projected to reach a โฌ3.5 billion deficit in the coming years, up from โฃโฌ1.65 billion last year.
North Rhine-Westphalian CDU Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann toldโฃ theโ “Rheinische Post” โคthat a “honest inventory” is needed โฃafter eight years as the introduction of theโฃ new care level, noting thatโ careโ insurance currently covers services beyond its core task. “A realignment of the care degree 1 is a consideration in the currentโข discussions,” Laumann stated, addingโ that the CDU aims to strengthen outpatient and domestic care.โ
Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken โis reportedly considering abolishing care level 1, aโค move that,โค according to “Bild am Sonntag,” โขcould save โaroundโข โฌ1.8 billion annually and affect approximatelyโ 860,000 people.
However, SPD โคparliamentary group deputy leader โDagmar Schmidt pushed back strongly โagainst โฃthe proposal. “We โขreject performanceโข cuts,” Schmidt โฃtold theโ newspaper, emphasizing the need to stabilize long-term care insurance financially. “Instead, we โคare committed to ensuringโ that all people in Germany can relyโค on support โขif they need them.” Schmidt advocated for strengthening revenue sources and solidarity to โคensure the system’s financial sustainability.
A federal-state working group is currentlyโ developing proposals to address the financialโ challenges, with โthe SPD awaiting โtheir recommendations.
Berlin, September 27, 2025, 02:07 a.m. CET -โข Federal Minister ofโ Health Nina Warken (CDU) announced plans to launch electronic prescription transfers (“e-transfer”) next spring, aiming to fully digitize the process and ease burdens on both medical practices and patients. The announcement, made to the Editorial Network Germany (RND), comes as theโข rollout of the e-recipe system – launched in 2024 – and the electronic โpatient file (introduced in 2025) face ongoing stability concerns.
Warken intends to lay the groundwork for the e-transfer and further digitization efforts withโ two new digitizationโข laws slated for presentation in spring 2026. While a firm date for the e-transfer’s fullโ implementation remains unconfirmed, the Minister โemphasized the goal of eliminating the “last analog process in โthe supply.”
“We want to โคdigitize the transfer as the last analog process in the supply,” Warken told RND. “This will lead to a further considerable simplification for medical practices and โinsured persons.”
The moveโ is part of a โคbroader strategy to strengthen the role of general practitioners as primary care providers, a system Warken intends to implement “in the context of the primary doctor system,” though โคno official timeline for this has been established.
addressing persistent complaints from medical and pharmacists’ associations regarding IT issues, โWarken acknowledged the โฃneed for improvement. “The stability has to be better, no question,” she stated. The upcoming digital laws will also focus on stabilizing the technicalโฃ infrastructure supporting the e-patient file and e-recipe systems.
Pharmacy advance Remains onโค the Table
Despite opposition โขfromโข the medical profession, Warken reaffirmed her commitment to a project allowingโ pharmacists to dispense โคprescription medication without directโ physician involvement, citing an aging population and a shortage of healthcare professionals.
“in view of the aging society and the shortage of skilled workers, weโ are forced to distribute the supply of the population over more shoulders,” Warken explained to RND. “the general practitioners are fully busy, 5000 medical seats are vacant – โand at the same time, general practitioners should get a central role as the first point of contact in the future.”
Warken clarified that any pharmacy-led prescriptions would be โgoverned by a defined catalog of diseases and medications, persistent by โthe Bfarm (Federal Institute for Drugs and โMedical Devices) in consultation with medical and pharmacist chambers. “It โขis not about pharmacies making complex diagnoses,” she stressed, suggesting potential applications โขfor patients with chronic conditions whose facts is documentedโ in the electronic patientโ file.
Context: Germany has been steadily moving towards digitalizing its healthcare system,with the e-recipe and e-patient fileโ representing significant steps. However, implementation hasโ been hampered by technical difficulties and concerns about data security and interoperability. The proposed e-transfer aims to complete this digitization, streamlining a traditionally paper-based process and potentially improving accessโ to care for patients. The debate surrounding pharmacists’ expanded roles highlights ongoing tensions between differentโข healthcare stakeholders regarding the optimal distribution of responsibilities within the German healthcare system.
