PRESS STATEMENT Reform without bloodletting!

“Healthcare must become affordable again, and the system must improve. This requires reforms. However, that must not mean benefit cuts, one-sided additional burdens, or premium hikes for employees. Drastic cuts that leave patients and insured individuals to bear the brunt do nothing to help the system or its public acceptance.

Greater efficiency and improvements can be achieved without financial bloodletting. To do this, we must tackle the real cost drivers, particularly drug prices and financial missteps in hospital care. Proposals that address these issues are the right path and must be implemented quickly.

In the medium and long term, however, genuine structural reforms are needed. Central to this is a universal health insurance system into which everyone contributes, and an end to a two-tier healthcare system. For greater fairness and financial vitality, we need a “Universal Health Insurance Initiative.”

Further information and press photos of Hans-Jürgen Urban