Emergency services in Brandenburg remain free of charge – agreement reached!

Emergency services in Brandenburg remain free of charge – agreement reached!

In Brandenburg, after tough negotiations, there is finally relief in the dispute over the costs of the emergency service. Representatives of the districts and health insurance companies have reached an agreement after intensive discussions since the end of March. The decision was made yesterday to keep rescue trips free of charge for citizens, as reported maz-online.de.

The conflict came to a head when eight districts entered the new year without a sensitive regulation. These districts – including Barnim, Märkisch-Oderland and Potsdam-Mittelmark – have so far had to make do with a continuous base amount from the coffers. The Märkisch-Oderland district had even threatened to cover the resulting costs by charging emergency call patients, which further aggravated the situation.

Agreement provides relief

The initiative by State Health Minister Britta Müller, who moderated the negotiations, is now bearing fruit. She described the agreement as a success for the citizens. From now on, the districts can count on a new calculation approach that guarantees more financial resources. At the same time, charging fees for emergency services will be completely removed from the table.

Intrasan is that this agreement had to not only be waited for, but actually brought about in order to avoid inconvenience for citizens. Fortunately, additional payments of several hundred euros, which were initially on the table, were prevented. However, an unpleasant detail remains the ongoing dispute over so-called wrong trips, for which a court ruling is still pending. There is also a lot of need for discussion here.

Challenges for the future

The new regulations take place within the framework of a complex system that is administered by the 14 districts and 4 independent cities in Brandenburg as a mandatory self-government task. The Ministry of Health knows that economical and economical management of the emergency service is essential. In recent years, spending on the emergency services in Germany has increased significantly, which also applies to Brandenburg. The amount spent on emergency services in 2023 climbed to 8.7 billion euros, compared to 4.4 billion euros in 2013, like mgs.brandenburg.de reported.

The increasing number of deployments and the associated costs were often caused by inflation and more expensive equipment. There are also an increasing number of emergency calls, which are not always accompanied by medical emergencies. This makes financial planning more difficult for the districts, which repeatedly experience savings and loss of income due to the fixed flat rates.

Overall, the new agreement can be viewed as a positive turning point that will benefit both the districts and the citizens. But a look into the future will show how the challenges in the rescue service can really be overcome. It remains exciting to see whether the discussions about the controversial empty runs will lead to an equally satisfactory solution that is in the interests of everyone involved.