According to plans by the grand coalition, tobacco addicts should in future be able to get drugs for quitting smoking from the health insurance fund. "There is no other drug in the world and here in Germany that causes more people to die than from the effects of smoking," said the Federal Drug Commissioner Daniela Ludwig (CSU) of the German Press Agency after a corresponding decision by the health committee on Wednesday. "We will therefore ensure during this legislative period that the support in quitting smoking is even better, more targeted, and even easier."
Specifically, people with statutory health insurance who have been found to be “heavily dependent on tobacco” should be entitled to a one-off supply of drugs to help them quit smoking.
The joint federal committee of doctors, clinics and health insurance companies is to determine which drugs can be prescribed in therapy programs under which conditions.
A follow-up supply with such funds should be possible after three years at the earliest.
The new regulations adopted by the committee are to be appended to another law that the Bundestag is expected to pass this Friday.