Overview
- KBV head Andreas Gassen proposes a €10-per-quarter practice fee collected by insurers rather than in doctors’ offices to avoid administrative burden.
- He also calls for a sugar tax and higher levies on tobacco and alcohol earmarked for health, estimating an extra €2 per cigarette pack could raise about €7 billion annually.
- Gassen urges removing homoeopathy from reimbursed benefits, citing roughly €50 million in yearly costs, and ending payments for digital health apps that cost about €234 million from 2020 to 2024.
- The GKV umbrella group rejects the proposals, arguing that simply adding money would entrench outdated structures and that the system’s problem lies in spending, not revenue.
- No measures have been adopted, though Greens back delisting homoeopathy and Health Minister Nina Warken has recently spoken about reintroducing a visit fee, keeping the issue in active debate.