Hospital.Help

Berlin – The Budget Committee has approved the draft budget for the coming year for the area of ​​responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Health without any changes. The Bundestag press service announced this today.

Accordingly, the coalition factions of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP voted for individual plan 15 of the draft budget in its current version. The CDU/CSU faction, the AfD faction and the Left Party group rejected the draft. However, changes to the individual plan are still possible in the reconciliation meeting for the 2025 budget.

According to the draft budget, the individual plan for 2025 provides for expenditure of 16.44 billion euros. In the current year, the figure is 16.71 billion euros.

As in previous years, the largest cost block is the federal subsidy to the health fund, which amounts to 14.5 billion euros. It serves as a “flat-rate compensation for the health insurance companies’ expenses for tasks affecting society as a whole”. The health insurance companies have been complaining for years that the funds are insufficient.

In addition, a resolution of the coalition factions on the review of mask procurement at the beginning of the corona pandemic, which had begun in the Federal Ministry of Health, was adopted, it said.

The resolution contains various requests for reports, for example on the mandate and its legal framework of the information officer Margaretha Sudhof. Sudhof was appointed by Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD). This led to unrest in the ministry.

The committee also calls on the federal government to dispose of personal protective equipment that is no longer usable “promptly” in order to reduce storage costs.

Amendments and resolutions proposed by the opposition factions did not find a majority. The Union faction had, among other things, submitted resolutions on stabilizing health insurance contributions and on digitization in the health care system.

The AfD parliamentary group had, among other things, called for cuts in items relating to vaccine procurement and pandemic preparedness. The Left group had, among other things, called for investment grants worth billions for hospital and care infrastructure. © may/EB/aerzteblatt.de