New German reimbursement system stutters again
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
A disagreement on key issues is threatening to hold up the introduction of Germany's new hospital reimbursement system, the diagnosis related groups (DRGs). Despite the eagerness of the ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Green Party coalition to push a law enacting the DRGs through the Upper House (Bundesrat), the opposition Christian Democrat and Socialist Union (CDU/CSU) parties want the law referred to the parliamentary arbitration committee, to resolve two key problems.