Bundestag to vote on health care savings

Germany’s lower house, the Bundestag, is expected to vote to pass a package of savings in the country’s health care spending.

The package, which will come into effect from Budget 2027, will affect doctors’ practices, hospitals, pharmacies and the pharmaceutical industry.

This includes, among other measures, higher co-payments for prescription drugs and stricter rules governing free spousal co-insurance under Germany’s statutory health insurance system.

Attempts to delay the vote by asking the country’s Constitutional Court to intervene through emergency applications, arguing that Parliament did not have enough time to scrutinize some last-minute changes made to the bill, were rejected.

Although the package is expected to be passed in the Bundestag, it may face opposition in the Bundesrat, Germany’s upper house.

The cost-saving measures have also sparked protests by health care workers in Germany.

Goth tomorrow!

Today, we’ll discuss the latest legislation ahead of the summer recess in the Bundestag, Germany’s lower house.

The proposals also include a package of cost cuts for the country’s public health care.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadeful will also meet with Slovenian counterpart Tone Kjaer in Berlin, with the two expected to discuss the war in Ukraine.

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