Locked in a Battle Over Ambulance Costs: Health Insurers vs. Districts in Brandenburg
Cost disputes with health insurers over ambulance charges - Local residents' pleas to council: address escalating ambulance expenses
Here's the lowdown: The Brandenburg state government's haggling with health insurers about citizen feelings towards ambulance fares ain't just a one-man show. Health insurers are also squeezing districts, urging them to dump their old calculation system pronto and switch to a new one like yesterday.
Rebecca Zeljar, the big cheese of the Association of Substitute Health Insurers Berlin/Brandenburg, ain't mincing words: "We've decided to fork out fixed rates in districts wherein we ain't got a squared-away fee calculation." This means the insurers will only pay the predetermined rates for these districts.
So, what's the dispute about? The districts, who serve as the ambulance service providers, need to get a move on and cover empty rides – rides where there's no need for hospital transportation. However, health insurers are playing hardball and refusing to cover such rides in a whopping eight districts because they're holding out for a cost-sharing agreement.
In those areas, citizens might be poked for a bit of their hard-earned cash to cover part of the ambulance fare costs. Märkisch-Oderland was gearing up to do just that, but Uckermark's district administrator, Karin Dörek (CDU), told RBB that they wouldn't send any bills until an agreement with the insurers is hammered out.
Health Minister Britta Müller (independent) ain't mincing words neither. She's warning districts: "This pissing contest shouldn't be fought on the backs of patients. I hope like heck the impacted districts won't start slapping citizens with bills, but will instead take a long, hard look at the united calculation system available to them."
Back in 2023, a statewide basis for cost calculation got axed by the insurers, which might've kicked off this whole kerfuffle.
Stay tuned for updates in the world of health services and ambulance fares in Brandenburg. It's a wild ride!
- Brandenburg
- District
- Ambulance
- Health Service
- Empty Ride
- vdek
- Berlin
The Brandenburg district administrators are under pressure from health insurers to transition to a new calculation system for ambulance fares, but they resist due to an ongoing dispute about covering costs for empty rides. The District of Uckermark, under CDU's Karin Dörek, has agreed not to issue bills until an agreement with insurers is reached. Health Minister Britta Müller urges districts to prioritize patients and consider a unified calculation system to avoid passing costs onto citizens, referencing the abandoned statewide system in 2023.
