German Minister's "Alarm" At Spending

German Health Minister Horst Seehofer says health spending development in the first nine months of 1995 is "dramatic and alarming," with a deficit of 7.5 billion Deutschemarks ($5.17 billion). The western states accounted for 5.8 billion marks of the total and the eastern states for the balance.

Spending per health fund member rose 5.5% in western germany compared with a rise of only 0.6% in basic wage rates, while eastern health spending rose 10.5% compared with a 1% rise in contribution income. The deficit would have risen further in the fourth quarter, he said, and he did not exclude the possibility that the 10 billion marks figure would be reached.

He said the public sector was the deficit's main source, due to changes in contributions of the unemployed and other factors. The second source was the hospital sector; the funds spent 3.5 billion marks more in the reporting period on hospital treatment than would be justified in terms of basic wage rate growth. The minister again called for restraint from doctors in prescribing, and reminded the health service that it had agreed to restrict hospital spending growth to basic wages growth. Since the hospitals had not kept their part of the bargain, policy would now have to be directed to impose budgest to cure what he called "this irrationality."