Overview
- Deutsches Ärzteblatt reports statutory insurers are pushing a roughly 10% cut to psychotherapists’ fees with a possible March decision, which the GKV-Spitzenverband has neither confirmed nor denied.
- Psychotherapy groups and physician leaders condemn the plan as irresponsible, warning of longer waits for insured patients and a shift by therapists toward privately paying clients.
- A CDU‑Wirtschaftsrat paper urging that many dental treatments be paid privately faces broad political pushback, as the federal government states such changes are not planned; Bavaria’s Markus Söder welcomed parts of the agenda, while other CDU figures distanced themselves.
- Mounting cost pressure underpins the debate, with psychotherapy spending reaching about €4.6 billion in 2025—up roughly 83% in a decade—and dozens of health funds raising their additional contributions this year.
- Long‑term care financing is under review, with Brandenburg proposing income‑ and asset‑based co‑payments, Minister Nina Warken promising a reform by year‑end, and a DAK/Allensbach survey in NRW finding 71% favor capping nursing‑home costs and 82% doubt affordability.