Federal Constitutional Court: Urgent applications against cash savings law in Karlsruhe failed
The Federal Constitutional Court has rejected urgent requests from two opposition MPs against the legislative process for the health savings package. The court announced that the applications for an interim injunction were unsuccessful. The law to stabilize contribution rates in statutory health insurance can therefore probably be voted on in parliament tomorrow as planned.
Two members of the Bundestag from the Greens and the Left had each turned to the highest German court with urgent applications because they considered the urgent legislative process to be inadmissible. The government coalition had submitted 278 pages of amendments just a few days before the planned vote.
Coalition wants to demonstrate the ability to act
The package from Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) is intended to relieve the statutory health insurance companies of rapidly increasing billions in expenses in 2027 in order to prevent further increases in contributions. To this end, increases in remuneration in practices, clinics and the pharmaceutical industry should be limited. For example, patients face restrictions on free co-insurance for spouses and higher co-payments for medication.
The controversial austerity law is part of a series of other reform projects with which the black-red coalition wants to demonstrate its ability to act and stimulate economic growth this summer. According to the coalition’s plan, it should happen tomorrow Bundestag be decided and then come straight to the Federal Council, which meets on that day for the last time before the summer break.
Plaintiffs criticized parliamentary procedure
The Green Party health expert Janosch Dahmen criticized on Wednesday after deliberations in the Bundestag’s Health Committee that they had “experienced a chaotic legislative process in the past few days”. He therefore wanted from Karlsruhe have it checked whether “a proper parliamentary procedure is still possible in this case”. Shortly afterwards, the Left and the AfD also announced that they wanted to call Karlsruhe. According to the court, an application from the AfD had not been received recently.
It is not the first time that an urgent motion in Karlsruhe was intended to slow down the passage of a law before the summer break. In the summer of 2023, CDU MP Thomas Heilmann stopped the legislative process for the traffic light government’s heating law with such a request. He had argued that the MPs did not have enough time to discuss the issue. On July 23rd – around three years after the urgent application – the court will decide on the main proceedings.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:260709-930-359018/1