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Germany’s Hospital Overhaul Nears Vote as G‑BA Pushes Consolidation and Government Moves to Rein In Nursing Budget

New rules target unchecked cost growth in the Pflegebudget after sharp spending increases with unclear patient benefits.

Overview

  • G‑BA chair Josef Hecken said roughly 1,000 hospitals would suffice out of about 1,700, with basic facilities placed so most people can reach them within 30 minutes.
  • The governing coalition’s KHAG amendment would bar billing housekeeping, logistics, administrative or technical tasks to the nursing budget, with misused funds to be repaid.
  • The Health Ministry rejected a DKG plan to cap site staffing via current measurement tools as not yet suitable for setting objective upper limits.
  • WIdO/AOK data show about 50,000 more full‑time nursing posts since 2019 and Pflegebudget costs rising to €26.1 billion in 2024, while minimum staffing compliance remained roughly unchanged at around 14–15 percent of shifts.
  • Hospital leaders urge a multi‑day Bund–Länder retreat and criticize rules such as the two‑kilometer site definition and added nursing quotas by service group, as the Bundestag prepares to take up the KHAG.