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German
drug coverage bill stirs heated debate HAMBURG, Germany - Germany's upper house of Parliament, or Bundesrat, approved a motion on Friday opposing a highly controversial law proposed by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's federal cabinet that would cut in half the number of drugs covered by Germany's public health insurance system. The proposed law, which supporters claim will save Germany's deficit-plagued public health insurance 800 million euros per year, is vehemently opposed by the pharmaceutical industry and by the conservative CDU/CSU coalition, Schroeder's major political opposition. The issue has been hotly debated since Schroeder's federal cabinet announced the proposed law in early April and sent it to the lower house of Parliament, or Bundestag, for approval. In the past two days the issue has turned politically explosive and now threatens to complicate other healthcare reform plans. Currently, the public health insurance system pays for all medicines sold in pharmacies except for a relatively few on a so-called "negative list." The new law will do away with the negative list and replace it with a "positive list" of medicines covered by public health insurance, cutting the number of covered medicines in half. Supporters of the proposed law -- dubbed the positive list -- say public health insurance money is currently being wasted on drugs of questionable therapeutic value. The Bundestag has approved the "positive list" law on first reading, and -- with Chancellor Schroeder holding a slight majority -- is expected to give final approval to the law in coming weeks. Roland Koch, prime minister of the state of Hessen and a CDU party leader, has become the most outspoken opponent of the law. On Thursday, he said the law would damage Germany's pharmaceutical industry and kill jobs. He also complained about the form in which Schroeder's SPD party introduced the law. Koch maintains that the "positive list" law falls in a category of law that would first need approval of the lower house Bundestag and then confirmation approval of the Bundesrat, which represents the interests of Germany's 16 states. Koch's CDU/CSU coalition holds a majority in the Bundesrat. Michael Wisser, a spokesman for the Bundesrat, told Reuters Health that if the Bundestag approves the positive list law in coming weeks and the Bundesrat votes against it, then the final fate of the law would be determined by German President Johannes Rau, who must sign all new laws before they take effect. If Rau would accept Koch's argument that the law was falsely categorized and needs Bundesrat approval, he could refuse to sign it. Either side on the issue could theoretically file suit in German Constitutional Court, Wisser said. On Friday during Bundesrat debate, Koch said that if the Bundesrat's opposition to the law were not taken into account, his party would block major healthcare savings reforms planned by Chancellor Schroeder's SPD party. Marion Caspers-Merk, an SPD party member and state secretary of the Ministry of Health and Social Services, took direct aim at Koch during the Bundesrat debate. She suggested he was more interested in the well-being of drug firms than in the healthcare of the 90% of Germans covered by the public system. She noted that German drug and chemicals giant Hoechst is headquartered in Hessen. She rejected claims that the "positive list" law would damage the German drug industry. "I know fully well that Germany is a leading European center for the pharmaceutical industry," she said. "And it will remain so." Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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