German liberals seek to privatise health service:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The German Liberal Party (FDP) has given both the Social Democratic Party and Green Party coalition government and the opposition Christian Democratic and Socialist Union parties pause for thought by suggesting that the statutory health service should be privatised in the long term to prevent its collapse. Speaking to the financial daily Handelsblatt, FDP chief Guido Westerwelle proposed that health insurance funds offer a uniform base level of care without carrying out risk assessments on individuals. He has also advocated raising child benefits to allow parents to contribute more to health insurance for their offspring in the future. The new FDP health programme will be presented at the party's annual congress in Dresden in June.