Düsseldorf – With a rally in front of the Düsseldorf state parliament on September 20, 2023, several thousand employees of North Rhine-Westphalia hospitals want to show their protest against the federal government’s inadequate funding of the clinics. Under the motto “The best medicine: clean financing”, around 10,000 participants want to send a clear signal to Berlin at five to twelve o’clock. Their demand: Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach should finally enable hospitals to sustainably finance the inflation-related cost increase and the tariff increase of around ten percent planned from 2024. So far the minister has refused to accept his legal responsibility for the operating costs of hospitals. The result: Hospitals have to plan for high losses – some in the double-digit million range – for the coming year. That is why a broad alliance – the “NRW Alliance for Hospitals” – of associations, institutions and social groups is supporting the protest rally organized by the North Rhine-Westphalia Hospital Association (KGNW).
The “NRW Alliance for Hospitals” is supported by the three municipal umbrella associations: District Association, Association of Cities, as well as the Association of Cities and Municipalities, the municipal employers’ association, the North Rhine and Westphalia-Lippe Medical Associations, the North Rhine-Westphalia Nursing Chamber, the ver.di and Marburger Bund trade unions , the Diakonie Rheinland-Westfalen-Lippe as well as Caritas in North Rhine-Westphalia, the Association of Senior Hospital Doctors, the Association of Hospital Directors in Germany and the Association of Private Clinics in North Rhine-Westphalia. “This broad support shows that concern for the economic stability of hospitals is not just a concern for the hospital owners themselves,” explains KGNW President Ingo Morell. Rather, it is a real scenario that inpatient health care would have to be drastically restricted due to an impending wave of insolvencies, including economic difficulties. “We demand sustainable protection for hospitals by the federal government creating sufficient inflation compensation and making it legally possible to fully finance the agreed tariff increases from 2024. We need both if we want to stop the downward spiral for hospitals,” emphasizes Morell.
It is the unanimous opinion of all organizations involved that the federal government cannot wait any longer, says the KGNW President, referring to the joint statement by the “NRW Alliance for Hospitals”. Under the heading “Hospitals in Need”, it calls on the federal government to prevent hospitals from becoming in trouble due to inflation-related cost increases and necessary tariff increases. “The actual cost developments are not even remotely accurately reflected under the current hospital financing conditions. The risk of hospital insolvencies across providers is therefore constantly increasing,” the statement says. The “NRW Alliance for Hospitals” demands that the federal government create the framework conditions so that the clinics receive permanent inflation compensation and full reimbursement of tariff rates via the existing financing system from 2024. The statement ends: “The NRW Alliance for Hospitals expects the federal government to accept its responsibility for financing operating costs and to implement it in concrete legislative proposals.” At the rally in front of the Düsseldorf state parliament on September 20, 2023 from 11:55 a.m., some will also be present Alliance members talk.
background information
Price development: Hospitals cannot respond to the enormous price increases for energy, food, medical devices or services by adjusting their remuneration. An expected cost increase is determined in advance, which then remains unchanged for one year. A 2.32 percent cost increase was assumed for 2022, and inflation averaged 6.9 percent for the year. However, in the area of hospitals, which are energy-intensive companies, the cost increase was in some cases well above the national average. This will continue in 2023: Hospitals can claim 4.32 percent higher costs, but inflation was twice as high at 8.7 percent at the beginning of the year; in August it was 6.1 percent (source: Destatis ).