Health insurance | When the Chancellor once found an injustice

If you have to wait a long time, you cannot have private insurance. Photo: IMAGO/Panthermedia It is illuminating why Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) noticed that there is a fairness problem in health insurance. As if he had ever been interested in the subject. But the debate he “started,” as a major media outlet aptly puts it, has no deeper meaning than to link the word justice with the Chancellor’s face in the media. It is definitely not about abolishing the division of patients into those with private and statutory insurance, as was immediately suggested by various CDU circles.

And the rest of the debate is also going as expected: medical officials are shouting blood and murder because they think that without private insurance they will have to starve tomorrow. They have actually been wanting a new fee structure for a long time, with which the professional group can generate even more income from private individuals. And even if the construct were to be abolished under private law, it was determined years ago that there would still be a huge debate about expropriation. And Friedrich Merz definitely doesn't want to go there.

So it is foreseeable that, if anything, this will be nothing more than a new attempt to achieve fair scheduling. But this has also failed so far, as patients note on relevant portals that they have no chance as those with statutory health insurance. The Merz initiative is misleading, and we wish you a lot of patience as we wait for the rest of the fall for concrete proposals on the topic.

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