Healthcare Reform
This article was originally published in RAJ Devices
Executive Summary
Germany sets up new commission
Germany sets up new commission
Germany is to form a new commission that will take over the reimbursement responsibilities of several other bodies, as part of the healthcare reform introduced on 1 January 20041-3. It will have the following representatives: physicians, dentists, psychotherapists, and representatives from hospitals and health insurance companies.
The new commission, GemBA (Gemeinsame Bundesausschuss), will be formed from the merger of the committee of the statutory health insurance funds (Krankenkassen), the Krankenkassen doctors’ committee (KBV) and a number of other bodies, including hospitals. The prescribing of certain medications and use of procedures by doctors will have to be approved by the commission before reimbursement can take place. The commission will also have the power to decide which indications of specific medicines can be reimbursed and which cannot.
The chairman of GemBA will be Dr Rainer Hess, who previously was a managing director of the KBV.
References
1. KBV press release, 11 November 2003, www.kbv.de
2. The Regulatory Affairs Journal - Pharma, 2003, 14(12), 941
3. Personal communication, KBV, 28 November 2003