Imagine having to go to a hospital in Germany, but you don't have insurance. That's exactly what happened to Iliyan Angelov, whose treatment cost 5,000 euros. Who pays if the patient can't afford the costs?
Iliyan Angelov felt bad. He couldn't talk or walk normally. That's why he sought help at a clinic in Mainz. However, he didn't have health insurance, as he had recently moved from Bulgaria to Germany and was currently working part-time in the country.
Therefore, the clinic initially had to clarify who would cover the costs of his treatment. He was treated for several days for a complication due to diabetes. The costs amount to about 5,000 euros. Angelov intends to pay them in installments. "I hope to find a normal job and be able to take out health insurance", he said, quoted by German public broadcaster ARD.
150,000 euros for the treatment of a cancer patient
The emergency department of the Mutterhaus hospital in the city of Trier treats about 30,000 patients a year. On average, 50 of them are without health insurance. At first glance, the number is small. But despite this, the treatment of these patients costs the hospital a lot of money. For example, one of the uninsured patients was sick with cancer and her treatment cost 150,000 euros, says hospital director Johannes Schröder.
"In this case, we had to use very expensive drugs," he explained. The woman died during treatment, and the hospital had to cover the costs. "There was no health insurance, and the social services refused to pay for the treatment." The woman had no permanent address and it was not possible to clarify why she was not insured.
According to Schröder, patients without health insurance at his hospital cause a deficit of up to 500,000 euros a year. This problem is not only faced by the main hospital in Trier, but also by other hospitals in Germany.
The Rhineland-Palatinate Hospital Association is aware of the concerns of clinics in the province. Its executive director Andreas Wermter believes that politicians are responsible for this.
"We are demanding the creation of a compensation fund from which services for patients with unclear insurance status or without insurance coverage are financed, so that hospitals are not ultimately burdened with these costs," he says.
Johannes Schröder, director of the Trier clinic, agrees. The clinics themselves are currently trying to secure funds. With the help of their own staff, they check whether the patient is really not entitled to health insurance. To this end, letters are sent to social services, asylum authorities and also to insurance companies abroad, he explains to ARD.
Patients also submit applications to the relevant services. "For us, this is an additional expense. With the money we lack, we could actually hire medical staff," says Schröder.
"We don't discriminate. The treatment is the same for everyone."
One of the clinic director's demands to politicians is to reduce bureaucracy and speed up application procedures. He could also imagine that the costs would be initially borne by the administrative authorities, rather than the hospital bearing the economic risk.
"The treatment is the same for everyone, regardless of what therapy or medication the patients need. We don't discriminate," says Schröder, emphasizing that everyone is treated there, regardless of their origin or insurance status.