Krank gespart - wer profitiert, wer leidet? Auswirkungen der Gesundheits“reformen“

Whenever there’s talk of reforms in Berlin, people instinctively cringe. Whether the topic is health insurance, long-term care, or—as was the case in the last legislative session—hospitals: this kind of reform is always linked to bad news for patients, those in need of care, healthcare workers, and family caregivers.

The claim: There isn’t enough money, and the healthcare system is too expensive. The question: Why, then, are more and more financial investors flooding into this system, taking over medical practices and care networks? Certainly not because they’ve discovered a passion for our health, but because they want to profit from our illness.

Our health is being traded on the market—that is the fundamental flaw in the so-called reforms of the past 30 years. In truth, market logic and good health care are mutually exclusive.

The government’s current measures do nothing to change this fundamental logic—on the contrary, they further expand it: For example, the hard-won long-term care budget is being capped, and a staffing standard that was intended to at least partially cushion the effects of the per-case flat rates is being overturned.

The “missing billions” in the health insurance funds are to be paid for by the insured and employees, even though 20 percent of the benefits alone should actually be financed by taxpayer money, because they do not fall within the actual scope of the health insurance funds’ responsibilities. A true reform would involve using all sources of income to finance a solidarity-based health care system—including income from assets and real estate.

Our speaker, Felix Ahls, co-chair of the vdää (Association of Democratic Physicians), will discuss the risks and side effects of the “reforms” at the 35th Political Coffee Chat and present reform proposals that focus on improving healthcare.

The “Kaffeeklatsch” on September 6, 2026, starting at 4 p.m. at the KoFabrik in Bochum is intended as part of a mobilization effort for the social protests.