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Berlin – In connection with the planned reform of emergency care, the Federal Council is insisting on the legislative powers of the states. A statement adopted today on the Emergency Act (Emergency Act) warns that the proposed legislation could over-extend the constitutional framework.

There is “already sufficient evidence” for this. In particular, the inclusion of the rescue service as an independent service area in Book V of the Social Code, announced by the Federal Government, could interfere with the state competence for the rescue service without any constitutional justification.

As the Federal Council explains, the planned nationwide billing requires a nationwide setting of quality and organizational standards. References to the rescue services in the further legislative process are therefore only considered permissible within narrow limits.

The cabinet decision on the emergency law was made in July – according to Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD), a reform of the emergency services should be integrated into the emergency reform in the parliamentary procedure.

As the Federal Council expressly emphasized today, the answer to the question of how emergency care can be intelligently set up and structured is assigned to the states by the Basic Law. The fact that this question is intended to be addressed with the present reform increases doubts about the legal admissibility of the proposed law.

In principle, the federal states welcome “the goal of improving emergency care in view of the high burden on emergency services and emergency rooms”. Improved cooperation between emergency services and outpatient medical on-call services and more efficient control and networking are sensible approaches.

“Patients must be able to rely on receiving quick and good care in an emergency,” commented Diana Stolz (CDU), Hessian Minister for Family, Senior Citizens, Sport, Health and Care, on the Federal Council’s decision. The federal government must therefore give the states the necessary scope for action when it comes to emergency reform.

“Regional models of emergency care that are already in practice, in which outpatient, inpatient and emergency service structures are interlinked across sectors, must be able to be continued and further developed,” says Stolz. Regional approaches to solutions should not be thwarted by the federal legislature, but should be supported. © aha/aerzteblatt.de