Berlin In view of the burden of high inflation, clinics in Germany are demanding billions in aid from the federal government. “The perfect storm is brewing here,” said the chairman of the German Hospital Society, Gerald Gass, to the Handelsblatt. There are “massive price increases for energy, food and medical products.” Gass expects, for example, that the gas bill for a hospital with 600 beds will triple from 800,000 to 2.4 million euros.
He assumes that the clinics will need an additional four to six billion euros to compensate for the higher costs caused by inflation. “It is also the federal government that wants to support ailing energy companies like Uniper with many billions. And the situation in the clinics is similarly dramatic.”
Hospital bankruptcies are a “very real threat”. The fact that the Corona aid for clinics expired on June 30 makes the situation even more difficult. “The federal government is leaving the hospitals out in the rain,” criticized Gass.
In addition, there is a lack of staff due to the wave of infections. Almost every tenth employee in clinics is currently absent due to illness. “And we are already working with a very thin staffing level.” This means that planned interventions are being postponed and waiting times are getting longer.
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Read the whole interview here:
Handelsblatt: Mr Gass, in addition to the Corona crisis, inflation is now also affecting the healthcare sector. Energy and many products are becoming more expensive. How well are the clinics prepared for this?
The perfect storm is brewing here. The clinics are already at the limit due to staff shortages due to Corona and the increasing number of patients. Now there are massive price increases for energy, food and medical products.
Do you have an example?
A hospital with 600 beds has an average gas bill of almost 800,000 euros. We have to reckon with a tripling of the price to 2.4 million euros. In addition, the higher wage agreements have an effect. All this applies to state-regulated prices. Only an increase of 2.32 percent was planned for 2022. This means that the clinics can never compensate for the increased costs. We are therefore calling for inflation compensation.
How many billions is it?
I assume that the clinics will need a surcharge of five to seven percent on the flat rate per case. The costs in hospitals are settled via the flat rate per case. At present, hospital expenditure totals 85 billion euros. This means that we need between four and six billion euros more to offset the inflationary burden. And to make hospitals more energy-efficient, annual special investments of around two billion euros would be necessary over the next ten years, as a study by the German Hospital Institute shows. This would also significantly reduce greenhouse gases.
>>Read here: Insured persons face even higher contributions if gas is stopped
Where will the money come from? Such expenditure is currently not planned in the federal budget.
Our expectation is that the traffic light coalition will not burden the health insurance companies with these costs, but will instead pay them from federal funds. It is also the federal government that wants to support ailing energy companies like Uniper with many billions. And the situation in the clinics is similarly dramatic. According to the hospital rating report, 60 percent of hospitals will be in the red this year, and 80 percent will be in the coming year. Such negative scenarios have never existed before. So hospital bankruptcies are a very real threat.
At the same time, hospitals received more government aid in 2020 and 2021 than they lost due to the pandemic. Isn’t that enough as a reserve?
Partial surpluses were mainly due to the uniform lump sums for keeping beds available in the first few months of the pandemic, which then quickly melted away. The discussion about possible overpayments at the beginning of the pandemic only considers the income of the clinics and regularly ignores the high costs associated with the pandemic. With almost all carriers, reserves are already in 2021 and through at the latest the development has been consumed in 2022. So there are no longer any reserves to absorb the current crisis.
The Corona aid for clinics expired on June 30th, and no new edition is planned for the fall. With what consequences?
The federal government is leaving the hospitals out in the rain. Without the backing of the Corona Aid in the worsening situation, each location is fighting for its own survival. This is fatal in a situation in which cooperation, exchange and smart regional support concepts are required. Nobody from politics should point the finger at the clinics in the fall if care can no longer be guaranteed. At the last conference of health ministers, the health ministers of the federal states called on Karl Lauterbach to act. But nothing happens.
The course of an infection with the omicron variant is considered to be significantly milder, which is also reflected in the hospitals, reports Gerald Gass.
(Photo: dpa)
Is that already noticeable?
There is already a multiple burden in the clinics. The number of Covid patients in hospitals has almost tripled in the past six weeks – there are now 16,000. There are twice as many Covid patients in intensive care units as in 2021. In addition, the wave of infections means that significantly more staff are absent. According to the reports that I get, the rate is fifty percent higher than usual. This means that almost every tenth employee in clinics is currently absent due to illness. And we are already working with a very thin staffing level.
What does that mean?
It is a higher workload for the remaining employees – of all things in a phase in which the many infectious patients are added. They must be isolated from other patients and treated in full protective gear. And patients experience that waiting times are getting longer again. Plannable interventions have to be postponed or you are referred to other clinics. This is a situation that we have never had in Germany. But we don’t yet have an English situation where patients sometimes have to wait years, for example for an artificial hip.
>>Read here: Head of the Medical Association warns of corona failures in clinics: “Health system is reaching its limits”
What do you expect for autumn?
For the Corona autumn I see black. The next wave of the pandemic will come. There is no valid scenario why it should fail. We will also not be able to vaccinate the general population with an adapted vaccine by then. This is unrealistic, since the vaccines for this are only available relatively late in the year.
Meanwhile, the traffic light coalition is still struggling to find the right corona course for the fall. There seems to be a consensus at least about a mask requirement indoors. Is that enough?
The obligation to wear masks indoors is an important measure that has also proven useful in the past. It is important that as many instruments as possible are made possible in order to react appropriately to the pandemic. At the same time, lockdowns, school closures and curfews make little sense, as the Corona evaluation report has shown. I would therefore place these measures at the bottom of the list of priorities.
>>Read here: Corona expert council considers “considerable burden on the health system” to be likely from autumn
Minister Lauterbach already recommends the fourth vaccination for all adults in consultation with a doctor.
Lauterbach’s approach is anything but happy. The recommendation is the task of the Standing Vaccination Committee Stiko. She has the expertise. I don’t believe in the minister disregarding the Stiko after he’s read studies in the evening. This chaos of recommendations will not lead to an increase in the willingness to vaccinate. On the contrary.
The Standing Vaccination Commission currently does not recommend vaccination for the general population.
(Photo: dpa)
Why?
If the minister publicly questions his own vaccination commission, it does not create trust, but rather unsettles the population. This is a fire hazard. Anyone who has always been against vaccination feels confirmed in their belief that there is no valid evidence for the effectiveness of vaccination. Everyone who would like to overturn the whole system sucks honey from it. And anyone who wants to be vaccinated perceives a polyphony that nobody can make sense of.
Does the minister have a point on the matter? Especially with a view to the Corona autumn.
I am convinced that the vaccination recommendation must be consistently based on the risk-benefit assessment. I see it in a similar way to the Stiko: There is currently no valid evidence that the fourth vaccination is of great benefit to everyone. Young people in particular are currently well protected after a third vaccination. It would be better to communicate that the fourth vaccination is particularly useful for older people and risk groups. This group needs to be reached. That is what the minister should focus on.
Thank you for the interview.
More on the subject: Does a fourth corona vaccination also help younger people? Mixed reactions to Lauterbach’s move