Contact fee for doctors? CDU General Linnemann believes social reforms are necessary
Mainz. CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann believes social security reforms are urgently needed, but does not want to preempt a commission specifically appointed for this purpose. "We will have to implement reforms, especially in social security, because non-wage labor costs are escaping us," Linnemann said on the sidelines of a CDU Rhineland-Palatinate retreat in Mainz.
Where exactly something needs to be changed needs to be looked at. "We have set up a commission to deal with these issues."
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Previously, the Managing Director of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations, Steffen Kampeter, had advocated for a contact fee for doctor's visits in view of rising additional health insurance contributions.
Employers want health insurance contributions to remain stable, he said in Politico's "Berlin Playbook" podcast. But this requires lower spending. A contact fee could lead to stronger patient management, and the goal is to "limit doctor hopping," Kampeter is quoted as saying.
Linnemann said he didn't want to single out individual points, but it was clear that social security contributions were too high. "And employees are feeling the effects. We don't have problems with gross wages, but with net wages, and that's why we have to address them." Fundamentally, personal responsibility must be strengthened again. "We will also discuss whether telephone sick notes make sense, or whether we shouldn't say that if you're sick, you have to go to the doctor," said the CDU General Secretary.
The social welfare association SoVD considers the employers' proposal to be absurd. "This demand lacks solidarity because it would place a disproportionate burden on chronically ill people," chairwoman Michaela Engelmeier told the German Press Agency.
People with limited financial means would then also more often forgo necessary doctor visits. "The result: illnesses that are neglected or treated too late, which ultimately result in higher costs and place an additional burden on the community. Added to this is the additional bureaucratic workload in the practices, which reduces treatment time for patients."
RND/dpa
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