Hospital.Help

Berlin – In the draft bill of the Health Care Strengthening Act (GSVG) presented today by the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG), there are some innovations that are intended to improve the care of mentally ill people and also ensure the next generation of psychotherapists. However, there are no specific regulations for financing further training in psychotherapy.

The specific plan is to improve access to care for “people who have difficult access to care due to their personal and social living circumstances”. A new authorization should be created for them.

Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) cited people with serious mental illnesses or drug addicts as examples. “Using special needs approvals, we want to empower psychotherapists to treat these people in particular,” Lauterbach told the press today.

In addition, doctors who work in psychotherapy and psychotherapists who primarily or exclusively treat children and adolescents will in future form their own needs planning group. This is intended to take into account the special care needs of children and adolescents when accessing psychotherapeutic care. This regulation was already included in the previous version of the GVSG.

According to the BMG, the additional outpatient branch options could result in additional expenses for statutory health insurance amounting to a low to mid-double-digit million amount per year from 2026 onwards.

In addition, the provision of psychotherapeutic services is to be simplified. “It is regulated that in future it will no longer be necessary to obtain a consultancy report if the psychotherapeutic treatment is carried out on the referral of a contracted doctor and a physical assessment has therefore already taken place.”

In addition, the Federal Joint Committee is instructed by the legislature to change the application procedure for short-term therapy from a two-stage to a one-stage procedure.

Regulations on the financing of psychotherapeutic training, which psychotherapists have long been waiting for, are still not included in the draft law – on the contrary. The text states: “Legal requirements for passing on part of the remuneration that the outpatient training clinics receive from the health insurance companies for services provided by the training participants are obsolete and should therefore be deleted.”

The term “further training outpatient clinics” is introduced by the legislature as a new legal definition and stands for “outpatient clinics at institutions that are approved under state law for the further training of psychotherapists or doctors in psychotherapeutic specialist areas”.

According to the legislator, the position of advanced outpatient clinics is strengthened by the fact that they “have the opportunity to negotiate their remuneration with the health insurance companies themselves”. And further: “The existing remuneration regulations for psychotherapists in further training and further training outpatient clinics should be adjusted taking into account the respective further training regulations.”

The Federal Chamber of Psychotherapists (BPtK) reacts to the legal passages on further training in psychotherapy with “complete incomprehension”. “We note that a regulation should be created that explicitly prevents adequate financing of further training,” explained BPtK President Andrea Benecke.

Further changes, such as the introduction of a legal definition for outpatient training clinics and the removal of a remuneration regulation that does not apply to psychotherapists in training, are “purely cosmetic”.

“The GVSG does not provide sufficient funding for further training positions in practices, further training outpatient clinics and clinics,” criticizes Benecke. “The GVSG is committed to the goal of securing young psychotherapeutic talent. This can only be achieved if the GVSG is significantly improved in the parliamentary legislative process.”

According to Federal Health Minister Lauterbach, the GVSG should be read before the summer break. © PB/aerzteblatt.de