National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Dentists
Berlin (ots)
At the dentists’ association’s traditional spring festival yesterday evening in Berlin, the GKV Financial Stabilization Act (GKV-FinStG) passed in October last year was the focus of criticism. Martin Hendges, newly elected CEO of KZBV, warned in his statement of the negative consequences for patient care.
According to the Federal Ministry of Health, the existing 17 billion deficit in statutory health insurance (GKV) should be compensated for in the short term with the GKV-FinStG. In his statement to around 350 invited guests from politics and self-government, Martin Hendges pointed out that with this law, the Minister of Health has “entered an area of dental care that aims to combat the widespread disease of periodontitis. Cost containment, which opposes prevention and necessary care and is thus at the expense of the health of the insured persons, must not be the content of responsible and patient-oriented health policy.”
In recent decades, dentists have not only improved oral health in Germany through a consistent focus on prevention, but have also made a major contribution to the stability of health insurance finances, said Hendges. While the proportion of expenditure in other areas of care has grown steadily, dentists have reduced the proportionate cash expenditure by a third since the year 2000.
The KZBV chairman pointed out that this law will not only have dramatic consequences for the supply structures, especially in rural and structurally weak areas. According to Hendges, the effects of budgeting for the recently introduced, modern and prevention-oriented periodontitis therapy are particularly fatal. “The victims of this policy will be the patients, because without the necessary financial resources we will not be able to provide them with the new therapy across the board. That is saving at the expense of prevention and saving at the expense of the health of our patients and counteracts the unanimous decision of the Federal Joint Committee, which was not only met with a broad consensus among all those involved, but also with the approval of the Federal Ministry of Health,” said Hendges. He therefore called on the health politicians in the coalition to abolish budgeting as soon as possible and to support the successful efforts of the KZBV for prevention-oriented, modern dentistry for the benefit of patients. Hendges announced that the dental profession will be working hard and publicly to achieve these goals over the next few months.
At the same time, in his statement, he again warned of the dangers of investor-supported medical care centers (iMVZ) for patient care. The IGES report commissioned by the KZBV and the current data analysis by the KZBV show that iMVZ are primarily settling in economically strong, urban conurbations – and that the supply in the countryside is losing out. Hendges: “Nobody should continue to turn a blind eye to this topic. It is high time to counteract the unmistakable undesirable developments and to effectively curb the spread of investor-supported MVZ.” In the dental field, iMVZ should only be allowed to be established within a very limited catchment area of the supporting hospital, and only if these hospitals were already involved in dental care beforehand. Hendges thus demanded a technical limitation for iMVZ in addition to a spatial limitation. “To put it very clearly: pressure for returns and greed for profit have no place where people’s health is concerned. What is currently happening here must end urgently!” he appealed.
When it came to digitization, Hendges wished that further progress would be made here, “in the same way that we did with the ‘Electronic application and approval procedures’ has succeeded.” He sees this lighthouse project of the dental profession as a “blueprint for everything that we also expect from the government’s new digitization laws: noticeably advance care, improve everyday practice, reduce bureaucracy.”
All in all, the dental profession is “absolutely aware” of the high level of responsibility towards patients, emphasized Hendges, and the same applies to the orientation towards the common good. “Anyone who knows us knows that we dentists also live this self-image in self-administration.” For this reason, the top priority for the entire KZBV board is to continuously improve oral health in Germany, be it in the prevention of child caries, in the care of those in need of care or in the fight against the widespread disease periodontitis.
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Original content from: National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Dentists, transmitted by news aktuell
