Reform in Germany

"The German health system degenerated a long time ago into a bewildering marshalling yard for billions of euros," comments Eric Gujer mournfully. "The public health insurance system was created in the 19th century for the subjects of Bismarck's authoritarian state and serves to keep policy holders' ignorant: they are entitled to a wide range of services but never even find out what these services actually cost. Controlling these costs by ensuring the greater financial involvement of policy holders is therefore a vital step." Eric Gujer explains the SPD's rejection of this plan as follows: "Within the grand coalition the Social Democrats always lean to the left while the CDU takes up the social democratic position. The health insurance reform illustrates the grand coalition's greatest problem perfectly: the partners are equally strong and can therefore torpedo the unpopular demands of the other party whenever they feel like it… Even the comparatively few structural reforms that have been carried through have been reduced to the lowest common denominator."

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