afp | In 2024, those with statutory health insurance had to wait an average of 42 days for a specialist appointment, significantly longer than a few years ago. This emerges from a response from the Federal Ministry of Health to a small question from the Left. Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) sees the waiting times as “a problem”, She wants to counteract this with “structural changes”. Sharp criticism comes from the Greens and the Left Party.
According to a survey of insured persons, which the federal government relies on, the waiting time in 2019 was 33 days. The numbers therefore refer to those insured by statutory health insurance (GKV) who have waited at least one day for specialist appointments.
According to the answer, which is initially discussed Rhenish Post had reportedAt the same time, the annual statutory health insurance expenditure for open consultation hours with doctors rose rapidly. The remuneration for services provided during open consultation hours climbed to around 814 million euros in 2023. In 2022 it was 547 million euros, in 2020 around 291 million euros.
Patients can come to the practice for open consultation hours without making an appointment in advance. Certain specialists such as ophthalmologists, orthopedists and psychiatrists must offer at least five hours per week of open consultation hours. In return, they receive additional money from the health insurance companies, which should lead to better access to medical care for those insured by statutory health insurance.
Where did the money go?
“Waiting times for a specialist appointment are a problem for too many insured people,” explained Minister Warken. “Concrete structural changes that address the problem from the ground up” should help. The CDU politician calls the planned introduction of an initial care system with “waiting times based on the urgency of the medical issue”.
Sharp criticism comes from the opposition. “Despite growing expenses, open consultation hours and special allowances, those with statutory health insurance are now waiting longer than they were five years ago,” said Green health politician Janosch Dahmen to the AFP news agency. This is “the result of reform standstill”.
Warken has so far failed to effectively reorganize outpatient care, criticized Dahmen. “The federal government has been announcing better care management and a primary doctor system for months – so far the delivery has mainly been rhetoric.”
The left-wing health expert Julia-Christina Stange called the previous regulations for better care and faster appointments “a nonstarter”. She added: “They cost those with statutory health insurance more money with poorer performance.” Stange accused the federal government of turning a blind eye instead of finally taking action.
Criticism also comes from the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds. “Waiting over a month for an appointment with a specialist is too long,” said association board member Martin Krasney Rhenish Post. What is necessary is “outpatient care that is compatible with a modern living and working environment”. In order to make appointment allocation more efficient, Krasney spoke out in favor of “a legal regulation for a daily updated online portal”.
Primary care system in the coalition agreement
“Although we have a relatively high density of specialists in Germany, people sometimes wait a long time for appointments,” criticized the federal chairwoman of the General Practitioners Association, Nicola Buhlinger-Göpfarth, in the newspaper. She called for fundamental reforms: The planned primary care system must be rolled out “promptly”.
The Union and the SPD had agreed on the introduction of a primary doctor or primary care system in their coalition agreement. The family doctor should therefore be the first point of contact in the future. You should only be able to see a specialist afterwards. This is intended to reduce doctor visits and thus save costs.
Minister Warken wants to present a first draft law on this by the summer. The Health Minister expects “the first effects” of the new system to appear in 2028, as she recently said.