Rescue trips in Brandenburg: Planned fees are missing!

Rescue trips in Brandenburg: Planned fees are missing!

An agreement has finally been reached in Brandenburg: the rescue trips remain free of charge. After long and intensive negotiations, the districts and health insurance companies have agreed that the urgently needed emergency services for citizens in the region can be used at no additional cost. Health Minister Britta Müller (independent, for BSW) announced the agreement on Monday, which is a relief for many and is seen as an important step towards improving health care in Brandenburg. Loud rbb24 Eight districts have agreed on a new calculation basis in order to secure the long-term financing of emergency services.

The negotiations dragged on for months and the uncertainty about the financing of the emergency service put pressure on many circles. Since January 1, 2025, health insurance companies have only paid fixed flat rates for rescue operations, which has particularly caused problems for the districts of Barnim, Oberhavel, Märkisch-Oderland, Oberspreewald-Lausitz, Oder-Spree, Potsdam-Mittelmark, Teltow-Fläming and Spree-Neiße. They had not previously made an agreement with the health insurance companies. “In the future, we have to ensure that the costs are understandable and economical,” continued Müller.
The agreement is viewed by those involved as a milestone, as it brings double-digit million amounts per year in the respective districts for all those affected. The retroactive effect on the fixed amounts that have been in effect since January 1st is also important in order to compensate for the loss of income in recent months and to avoid problems in the long term. n-tv reported that even fee notices that had already been sent were refunded by the Märkisch-Oderland district and that no new cost notices were allowed to be created during this period.

A fair cooperation in a crisis

Another important point is the peace obligation that applied during the negotiations. During this time, no cost notices were allowed to be sent to citizens. This peace obligation, which is considered important by all those involved, ended with the announced agreement on Monday. Health Minister Müller emphasizes how important the dialogue between the states and the health insurance companies is for a sustainable solution. Also Prime Minister Dr. Dietmar Woidke is optimistic and says that the agreement gives the people of Brandenburg security: “We have shown a good hand here,” says Woidke, as in Brandenburg.de is to be read.

On the other hand, the controversial handling of empty ambulance journeys remains undecided. We are still waiting for the decision of the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court, which should bring clarity to this issue. The dispute over the financing of the rescue service, however, has been going on for years and is therefore a long-standing problem that has now taken at least a partial step in the right direction.