Kidney specialist Dr. Erika Eger no longer knows what to do next. The reason is the reduced flat rates of the health insurance companies.
Kidney specialist Dr. Erika Eger (68) started her career 44 years ago because she wanted to help sick people. people who are in despair. Today she is in despair herself.
She, the savior of kidney patients, could actually be proud of what she has achieved: a dialysis practice with three locations in Treptow and Mitte. Its 52 employees look after 120 patients around the clock.
But the institution is on the verge of collapse. “I don’t know how this month will end,” says Dr. Eger. Other independent dialysis clinics are also threatened with collapse. Ten operators have already given up in Berlin and Brandenburg.
The problem: In 2013, the Central Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV) and the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians cut the so-called dialysis material cost flat rate.
Eger pays all of these costs: staff with night and holiday bonuses (2.4 million euros annually), maintenance of the 33 dialysis machines (200,000 euros annually), water (26,000 euros) and electricity (57,000 euros).
“The costs rose by 13 percent, for the staff even by 64 percent,” says the doctor.
From 527 euros for three dialyses per week per patient, the system was switched to a tiered system. The more patients, the less money. With 120 patients, Eger gets 417.50 euros per week and patient.
“Every day dialysis is underfinanced at eleven euros, every night dialysis at 31 euros,” she complains. She would have lost 120,000 euros last year. “In order to be able to bear the costs, I canceled my life insurance.”
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“We cannot understand the accusation that dialysis practices are underfunded and we clearly reject it,” says a spokesman for the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds on the BZ. On average, a nephrologist earns more than twice as much as doctors in other disciplines.
A spokeswoman for the Association of German Kidney Centers contradicts this. “All the extra work is not covered by the flat rate,” she replies. She warns: “Dialysis practices can no longer be maintained, the care of people with kidney disease is threatened.”
