Hospital.Help

Berlin The Association of Accredited Laboratories in Medicine (ALM) tried in a crisis meeting to agree on how to proceed against the planned fee reform. The planned cuts would endanger the existence of many laboratories in Germany, said the first chairman of the ALM, Michael Müller, yesterday in Berlin.

For more than two hours, the association leadership discussed with around 200 participants from all laboratories what options for action still remained. The laboratories do not want this reform, explained Müller. Concerted action is needed now. He did not provide any information about the exact content of the conversation or planned measures.

However, the association received support from more than 5,000 signatories of the open letter that the ALM published in July together with the professional association of doctors for microbiology, virology and infection epidemiology (BMI).

This is enormous for such a small group of doctors, said Müller. The support also comes from numerous individuals from patient care and from patient representatives themselves. This should be reason enough for the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds and the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians to suspend this reform.

The association renewed its criticism of the planned fee reform, which, in its opinion, would lead to a deterioration in the supply situation.

In the past 15 years, 30 percent of fees from laboratory remuneration have been lost, and now a further ten percent are being cut. In addition, the minimum reimbursement rate should be reduced from 89 to 85 percent, calculated ALM deputy chairman Jan Kramer.

In contrast, the costs in medical laboratories increased by 19 percent between 2017 and 2021 and by a further 17 percent since 2022. However, it is not possible to pass on the cost increases, emphasized ALM board member Evangelios Kotsopoulos.

He defended himself against references to the massive profits made by laboratories during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, a lot of money went into testing during this time, but the discussion about it was conducted in an undifferentiated manner.

Because the vast majority of the money went into self-tests. In addition, the remuneration would also be offset by massive investments by the laboratories, which were necessary during the pandemic in order to meet the high demand. The laboratories would have had to purchase materials and instruments at excessive prices, which today often have to be written off unused.

The club chairman Müller demanded that we stop emptying laboratories like a quarry or squeezing them like a lemon. In addition, there is no reason at all for the current reform, in contrast to previous ones. The foreseeable systematic withdrawal of financial resources will have a serious impact on the system of fee distribution, which is designed for fairness and justice. © lau/aerzteblatt.de