Berlin: (hib/PK) The Union parliamentary group warns against a cold structural adjustment in the hospital landscape and is calling for a preliminary law to provide financial security for the hospitals. According to a motion (20/8402) by the parliamentary group, the hospitals have largely become a financial emergency due to the increases in energy prices and the additional costs caused by inflation.
The hospitals criticized the chronic underfinancing of operating costs and investment costs, which can partly be attributed to insufficient investment funds in some countries. Hospitals could not simply pass on price increases to their patients or health insurance companies.
The German Hospital Association (DKG) expects a deficit of around ten billion euros for all German hospitals at the end of 2023. There is a risk of insolvency as long as the planned hospital structural reform does not take effect and bridge financing is not secured.
In addition to an analysis of the additional financial needs of hospitals, the MPs are calling for a preliminary law to prevent bankruptcies and to ensure the stabilization of inpatient care until the planned hospital reform takes effect. It must be ensured that energy prices and personnel costs in particular can also be included in the negotiations about the state base case values at the same time.