Munich (dpa / lby) – The clinics in Bavaria expect high burdens due to inflation, which patients could also feel. There is a risk of “restriction in medical care if politicians do not urgently take countermeasures,” warned the first chairwoman of the Bavarian Hospital Society (BKG), the Kitzinger district administrator Tamara Bischof.
At the latest when the number of corona infections increases again in autumn, there is a risk of a “financial and supply crisis,” said Bischof on Monday evening at the BKG’s health policy summer talks in Munich. According to BKG calculations, significantly higher expenditure on energy and other material costs will leave a gap of 530 million euros in the budgets of clinics in Bavaria this year.
Bishop called for extensive additional funds from health insurance companies for patient care. But the funds for investments provided by the state government are “not sufficient at all,” criticized the Free Voters politician.
Bavaria’s Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) promised the hospitals support with the financial problems. However, the statutory health insurance companies, as the most important donors, are “massively underfunded”. Holetschek referred to calculations by the Central Association of Statutory Health Insurance, according to which the health insurance funds will be short of 17 billion euros next year.
The Federal Ministry of Health has not yet made any concrete suggestions as to how this gap can be closed, said Holetschek. The minister admitted that the state government could also allocate higher investment funds. But talks would have to be held with Bavaria’s Finance Minister Albert Füracker (CSU), among others.
The financial situation is just one of many problems that need to be addressed in the hospital sector, said Holetschek. In order to combat the shortage of staff, among other things, the recognition of professional qualifications of skilled workers from abroad must be revised. The Minister of Health emphasized that it was also urgently necessary to reduce the “excessive bureaucracy” in the clinics.
