BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has called for improvements in care through the controversial hospital reform. "We need more specialization, we need less bureaucracy. And we need secure funding for the hospitals that we urgently need, especially in rural areas," said the SPD politician when introducing the draft bill in the Bundestag on Thursday. If the reform does not take place, it must be assumed that around 25 percent of clinics will become insolvent by 2030.

Lauterbach made it clear that the project still had a long way to go with the federal states. However, he added: "We are on the right track. There is consensus on central goals. In future, the federal states could decide for themselves which clinic should provide breast cancer care, for example. However, the federal government would not make any concessions when it came to "equal and better quality for all". Around Koln, for example, there are 85 clinics that treat bowel cancer - but many only treat ten to 20 cases per year. This is not the quality that one could wish for.

The opposition criticized Lauterbach's approach. Union health expert Tino Sorge (CDU) accused him of having led the reform "to the brink of failure". "It's not a question of whether, it's a question of how." It was necessary to proceed together with the federal states and not against them. Exceptions and opening clauses should have been discussed earlier, because every region is different.

The reform plans launched by the Federal Cabinet are intended to reduce financial pressure on hospitals and establish uniform quality rules. To this end, remuneration with flat rates for treatment cases is to be changed. In future, clinics are to receive 60 percent of their remuneration for providing certain services. The basis for financing by the health insurance funds is to be more precisely defined "service groups", which also stipulate minimum requirements./sam/DP/jha