BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - CSU state group leader Alexander Dobrindt is calling for a stronger approach to the federal states on the planned hospital reform. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) must sit down at the table with the states on this central issue and not make policy against the states, Dobrindt told the German Press Agency. "This kind of confrontational approach by the federal government is damaging medical care in Germany. This is not acceptable." Dobrindt criticized: "This hospital reform is completely unbalanced." It disregards the federal states, leads to higher costs for contributors and will lead to a deterioration in rural areas.

The federal cabinet launched the legislative plans on Wednesday. They are intended to reduce financial pressure on hospitals and establish uniform quality rules. To this end, the current remuneration system with flat rates for treatment cases is to be changed. In future, clinics are to receive 60 percent of their remuneration for providing certain services. The basis for financing by the health insurance funds is also to be more precisely defined "service groups". They are to describe hospital treatments more precisely and define minimum requirements.

The federal states are unanimously calling for changes to the plans. However, Lauterbach has no longer drafted the law in such a way that it requires approval in the Bundesrat. The draft will now be discussed in the Bundestag. The law is set to come into force at the beginning of 2025, with implementation to follow in the years thereafter./sam/DP/zb