German Health Reform Bill Amendment

German Health Minister Horst Seehofer has agreed to change a controversial feature of the third draft health service reform legislation, permitting health funds to increase their premiums without a corresponding rise in patient contributions to the cost of their drugs, medicines and treatment.

Meantime, Rudolf Dressler, chairman of the Social Democratic Party's parliamentary committee, says the third-phase reform will lead to a "drastic rise in costs." He says the current health fund deficit will have topped 14 billion Deutschemarks ($9.37 billion) by the end of 1996, making "massive increases in premiums" unavoidable for most funds in 1997.