Berlin: (hib/PK) In an interparty motion, MPs are calling for the consequences of the health insurance approval of the non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) to be systematically evaluated. According to the agreement of the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA), NIPT has been a health insurance benefit since July 2022, provided that the pregnant woman and the gynecologist come to the conclusion that the test is necessary, according to the MPs’ application (20/10515). .
However, the G-BA does not regulate sufficiently clearly in the maternity guidelines (MuRL) or in the “Insured information about blood tests for trisomies / The non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) for trisomy 13, 18 and 21” when this blood test should be used.
It is to be feared that pregnant women will be recommended to have NIPT carried out, regardless of medical relevance, also so that doctors can protect themselves. This could lead to the test being used so regularly that it is effectively equivalent to a series of tests.
On the one hand, the scientific evaluation of information for insured persons from the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWIG) shows that the majority of those surveyed stated that they were free to decide for or against the test. However, around 30 percent of those surveyed saw the information for insured persons as a clear recommendation in favor of the blood test. On the other hand, after a negative NIPT result, more pregnant women relied on the fact that they would give birth to a healthy child and foregone the first trimester screening.
In their application, the MPs are calling for monitoring of the implementation and consequences of health insurance approval in order to be able to collect and evaluate reliable data on various aspects in a timely manner. In addition, an interdisciplinary expert committee should be set up to examine the legal, ethical and health policy basis of the NIPT’s health insurance approval.