Lauterbach announces billions in aid for hospitals

Created: 2022-11-02Updated: 2022-11-02 12:34 AM

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) speaks in the Bundestag.

© Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

The high prices are also causing problems for the health sector - in addition to gas and electricity price brakes, hospitals should therefore receive additional relief.

Berlin - Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has promised hospitals billions in support in view of inflation and high energy costs.

A solution will be presented today, the SPD politician announced yesterday on the ZDF program "Markus Lanz".

"It will work in such a way that we will make money available from the economic stabilization fund - up to eight billion euros," explained Lauterbach.

He assured: "No hospital will have a problem because it can't pay for inflation, it can't pay for electricity or it can't pay for gas."

The hospitals would also be protected by the planned gas price brake and the electricity price brake, "but not only".

"So that we can ensure that the hospitals don't run into liquidity problems as a result of inflation, electricity and gas prices." He did not give any further details on what the financial aid should look like.

Repeated warnings from hospital society

The economic stabilization fund has been equipped with up to 200 billion euros - this debt-financed "defense shield" is intended to cushion the consequences of high energy prices for consumers and companies.

The planned gas price brake is to be financed from this.

The German Hospital Society had repeatedly warned of the consequences of the dramatic rise in energy prices for the clinics and called for a rapid adjustment to inflation.

"We worked on it over the weekend and we have a solution," said Lauterbach.

There was good cooperation with Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens).

"We have simply made up our minds: In this energy crisis, no hospital will have to suffer so much that there is a problem."