Little time? At the end of the text there is a summary.
Ambitious Jens Spahn (CDU) is always. Therapies, organ donation, even the diapers in the care of the elderly: the Minister of Health wants to make everything a top priority. In regularity, he surprises with a new idea, which would justify his own series entitled "Spahn calls ..." .... Indignation is almost always certain, even from party friends.
Spahn does not shy away from the ticks - a pattern is barely recognizable in the selection of topics. Sometimes he advocates the interests of women with lipoedema, sometimes he wants to prohibit supposedly widespread "therapies" against homosexuality.
At the same time he is constantly expanding the influence of the Ministry of Health - and thus his own. For the time being, the representatives of insured persons and employers in social self-government have been deciding on the essential interests of social security.
Criticism from the health insurance
The statutory health insurance now apparently enough of Spahn's solo efforts. They demand: Chancellor Angela Merkel and the SPD parliamentary group leader Andrea Nahles must intervene. "Since assuming office, Minister Spahn has tried again and again to restrict the competencies and decision-making possibilities of social self-government," said Uwe Klemens from the German Association of Statutory Health Insurance (GKV) to the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung".
The criticism of the statutory health insurance is directed against Spahn's plans for the Society for Telematics in Health Care, short Gematik, which should promote and further develop the introduction of an electronic health card. Spahn doubts that the electronic health card in the current form makes sense, but currently has little influence on it.
He therefore demands that the federal government take over 51 percent of Gematik's shares. As a result, Spahn could have a say in the future development of the health card and enforce decisions - even against the will of the health insurance or medical and pharmacist associations.
"It regulates the traffic, up to the withdrawal of the driving license"
GKV employer representative Volker Hansen accuses Spahn of violating the coalition agreement, which actually provides for a strengthening of self-government. "That's why the Chancellor needs a word of power, and she's ultimately responsible for the policy's fundamentals," said Hansen. The state could give self-management guard rails, said Klemens. But Spahn do much more. "He pulls no guardrails, which regulates the traffic, up to the withdrawal of the driving license."
It is not the first time that Spahn has provided criticism for his plans. When taking office, Spahn was still unhappy about his job as Minister of Health. He took advantage of the first opportunity to rise to the party chairman - without success. In the end, the race was known to make Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. So Spahn may not be the Minister of Health for eternity, but he has now worked diligently in health issues and thereby always uncovered new supposed problem areas, from abortion to appointments at the doctor.
The overview
- Spahn's idea to decide for himself in case of doubt , whether health insurance companies have to pay for a therapy meets with particularly great criticism. According to the current plans, health insurance companies and doctors have only had two years to determine whether or not a new treatment is being paid. Thereafter, the Ministry of Health can determine which therapy it considers appropriate. For example, Spahn had announced that liposuction would become a health insurance benefit if those affected suffered from a fat distribution disorder called lipoedema.
- What sounds like a low-bureaucratic decision in the patient's sense carries considerable risks. Because so far, health insurance companies are only obliged to pay the cost of a therapy, if they are proven to be good, effective and safe. This sometimes requires lengthy studies that are difficult to realize within two years, complain experts. They fear that the Minister of Health could arbitrarily decide in the future which costs will be borne and which will not - irrespective of the current state of knowledge. (Here you can read more about it).
- Spahn also wants to get involved in health research . He is planning a large-scale study on the psychological consequences of abortion. With a budget of five million euros, the study would have been the Ministry of Health's most expensive research contract in ten years. The added value is however controversial. Critics complain that there are already numerous studies on the subject. Gesine Lötzsch, the budget spokeswoman for the Left, called the study a "case for the Federal Audit Office". Apparently Spahn wants to win "fundamentalist abortion opponents" as new CDU voters.
- Spahn addresses several points with his appointment service and care law (TSVG) . Negotiations have been going on for months, with 194 amendments last. The final legal text is to be adopted at the earliest in mid-March. Originally, the TSVG should ensure that patients get an appointment with the doctor more quickly - even with specialists. For example, established physicians should be required to offer more consultations and receive a premium if they quickly get specialist appointments. But little by little, Spahn pressed more and more plans into the legislative plan, which he presented on a weekly basis. Be it price negotiations for vaccines or the fertility treatment after a cancer. The plans were criticized particularly violently, according to which mentally ill patients should be examined in advance by trained physicians, who then decide on a suitable therapy.
- Another central topic of the Minister of Health is organ donation . His goal is to increase the number of organ donors. He has already initiated an amendment to the Transplantation Act. In addition, Spahn advertises a "double contradiction solution". Accordingly, everyone would automatically be considered a donor, who did not object to it during his lifetime. In case of doubt the relatives can refuse an organ donation, hence the name "double contradiction solution".
Whether Spahn's many demands will be successful, must show in the coming months. In any case, he has already achieved one thing: In Germany, there is currently so much talk about health issues as for years.
In summary: Since taking office, Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) surprised with new legislative proposals from different topics. A pattern is difficult to recognize, but it is a strategy: Spahn wants to expand the competences of the Ministry of Health and strengthen his own position in the cabinet.