Germany: patient liable to pay quarterly fee:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The social court Dusseldorf has ruled in a test case that a patient is liable to pay the E10 ($12.80) quarterly GPs fee, the Praxisgebuhr. The individual had claimed in court that the local sickness fund, KV Nordrhein, should pay the fee, given his salary of E1,000 per month. The Praxisgebuhr was brought in under the German health reforms of 2004. Patients must pay the fee on the first visit only to their doctor every quarter. The case, heard on March 22, ruled that there was no legal basis for these fees to be paid by the sickness funds.