Andreas Gassen, head of the Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung (KBV), dismissed demands for a guarantee of specialist doctor appointments within three weeks as „bullshit“ and „socialist regulatory frenzy“. He stressed that appointment allocations must be based on medical need. Gassen was responding to SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch.
Andreas Gassen, chairman of the Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung (KBV), criticized demands for binding deadlines for specialist appointments in an interview with RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND). „Our system will crash if we do not finally create binding rules based on medical need and not on personal wishes of whoever“, he said.
Gassen was responding to SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch, who called for a legal entitlement to an appointment within three weeks. Miersch proposed a bonus-malus system in doctors' remuneration: „Those who do not offer appointments will see their budget reduced.“ Former Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) had previously demanded a guarantee for statutory insured patients.
In the context of planned health reforms, Federal Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) aims to avert higher health insurance contributions with a savings package. An expert commission recommended 66 measures. The reform envisions patients first visiting their general practitioner, who refers to specialists as needed within a fixed period. Implementation is expected around 2028.
Gassen welcomed the planned primary care system in principle but demanded a clear definition of urgency. Only a small percentage of appointments are acute, requiring treatment within hours or days. „The vast majority can medically wait weeks or months“, he said. Current average waiting time for statutory insured is 42 days (2024), up from 33 days in 2019.
