German call for radical health policy change

The German Liberal Party, the FDP, has called for a radical change ofdirection in health care policy, calling for the current budgeting of spending on treatment services to be dismantled and replaced by a market-driven system.

In a policy paper prepared by the party's national leadership, the FDP goes on to call for an intensification of competition at all levels of the health service. Insured patients should have the choice between a range of tariffs and offers of treatment, it says, and patients should make a contribution towards the costs of their health care in order to strengthen public awareness of medical expenses.

The report also says that, in order to make cost reimbursement more transparent, health fund patients should receive an account for health services, just as private patients do, which they would then hand in to their respective funds. The FDP also argues that the health funds should not be legally obliged to engage in joint and unified negotiations with health service providers, so that there would be an element of competition to suggest better ideas and produce improvements from the negotiations.