29.06.2023 – 16:58
PKV – Association of Private Health Insurance eV
Berlin (ots)
Florian Reuther, Director of the Association of Private Health Insurance (PKV), explains the deliberations of the federal and state governments on the hospital reform:
“The PKV also sees the need for reform in hospital care. The guiding principle of every reform must be the quality of medical care, not abstract calculations of the supposedly ‘correct’ number and size of hospitals. Quality also includes good care in rural areas.
Private health insurance is part of the joint self-government and, after the statutory health insurance, the most important cost bearer for hospitals in Germany. Like the other partners in self-government, private health insurance must be involved in shaping the reform. This also includes the participation of the PKV with voting rights in the relevant committees.
The planned financing of maintenance costs harbors the risk of false incentives. For us as a private health insurer, it is important that the new reimbursement system does not lead to the nationalization of the hospital landscape. Good hospitals in the interests of the patients require the entrepreneurial incentive to act economically and constantly improve quality in competition.
Advance financing should only be paid where it is necessary to secure necessary structures that cannot be financed from regular operations. The main problem is the insufficient financing of the investment costs by the federal states. This also remains a state task, it must not be passed on to the insured and contributors. Under no circumstances should advance financing lead to the states being relieved of their responsibility for financing investments. When refinancing maintenance costs, all cost bearers must be appropriately involved. It is therefore correct that existing billing methods are based on hospital billing and surcharges on treatments actually provided.
The reform must provide sufficient performance incentives for hospitals to make an effort to care for patients. The hospitals should continue to be rewarded primarily for their specific services. In the competition for patients, the hospitals must contribute to a constant improvement in the range of services. In general, transparency towards patients should be increased.
PKV attaches great importance to safeguarding the options for patients. The reform must not result in de facto monopoly providers being created for certain services. The PKV is in favor of functioning quality and care competition. Hospitals must also have a development perspective and must not be tied to predetermined structures forever.
In the case of inpatient treatment, patients want to be able to decide who treats them and how they are housed. In total, more than 13.5 million people have opted for insurance with optional hospital benefits in private health insurance. This is a historic high, which shows that people want freedom of choice and are very conscious of using hospital services. The scope of the optional services must therefore be maintained and adapted to changed offers, such as the planned special sector-same remuneration (‘hybrid-DRG’).”
Press contact:
Stefan Recker
– Managing Director –
Head of Communications
Association of Private Health Insurance eV
Heidestraße 40
10557 Berlin
Phone 030 / 20 45 89 – 44
Fax 030 / 20 45 89 – 33
E-Mail [email protected]
Internet www.pkv.de
Twitter www.twitter.com/pkv_verband
Original content from: PKV – Association of Private Health Insurance eV, transmitted by news aktuell