Health Committee approves patient counseling reform
Health/Committee – 03/15/2023 (hib 190/2023)
Berlin: (hib/PK) With some changes and additional non-specialist regulations, the health committee has approved the federal government’s draft law to restructure the independent patient advice service in Germany (UPD). For the template (20/5334) voted on Wednesday the traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP, Union and AfD voted against, the left faction abstained. The bill is expected to be passed in plenary on Thursday.
In the future, the UPD is to be consolidated in a foundation under civil law. According to the federal government’s draft law, the goal is to transform the UPD into a permanent, non-state and independent structure with the participation of the relevant patient organizations.
The Central Association of Statutory Health Insurance (GKV) and the private health insurance companies (PKV) are to allocate a total of 15 million euros annually to the foundation at the beginning of 2024. The proportion of private health insurance should be seven percent.
The committee decided on some changes to the structure of the foundation. The Board of Trustees will now consist of 15 people instead of 13, including seven representatives of patient organizations. The GKV should provide two representatives. The Federal Government Commissioner for the interests of patients is to preside over the Board of Trustees. The UPD advises citizens on legal, medical and psychosocial health issues.
Among the 17 amendments approved by the committee are some non-technical provisions. Discrimination against men who have sex with men (MSM) should be avoided when donating blood in the future. According to this, possible exclusions or deferrals from donating blood should only be possible on the basis of the respective individual sexual behavior and no longer on the basis of belonging to a group with a certain sexual orientation. The requirements for the age limit are also to be replaced by an individual medical assessment of suitability for donations.
Furthermore, care in pediatric and adolescent medicine as well as in child and adolescent psychiatry will be removed from the doctor’s budget in the future. The services of this group of doctors are no longer capped by a budget.
In order to prevent drug supply bottlenecks, the extended exchange option for pharmacies under the Sars-Cov-2 Drug Supply Ordinance is also to be extended until the end of July 2023.