CDU/CSU on health and care

The CDU and the CSU want good care in cities and rural areas to be the guiding idea of the hospital reform and want to correct what they see as the reform's flaws. Uncontrolled hospital closures are to be prevented.

The CDU and the CSU want to change the hospital reform. Rural areas should also have enough hospitals. Hospitals should not close without a plan. The states keep planning their hospitals themselves.

The states are to keep their authority over hospital planning. Nationwide basic and standard care, especially in rural areas, and the concentration of specialized services are to be planned together with outpatient care by general practitioners and specialists. Other health professions are to take on more responsibility. Emergency care and rescue services are to be developed further and linked with disaster control and local governments.

The CDU and the CSU want general practitioners and pediatricians to guide patients through the system more strongly, so that treatment is better coordinated and waiting times fall. Statutory health insurance is to be put on a sound footing through more efficiency and more competition among insurers.

The family doctor or children's doctor should guide patients through the system. This should help patients get appointments faster. Health insurers should spend money more carefully. They should compete more with each other.

The platform keeps the dual system of statutory and private health insurance, self-governance, independent medical practice and solidarity-based contributions. All health professions are to face less red tape. Obstetrics and pediatric care are to be secured close to home, and services for mental illness improved, especially for young people. Other plans include more prevention, gender-specific medicine, a single application process for rehab, and wider use of the electronic patient record, health apps and AI in line with data protection.

The CDU and the CSU want to strengthen local pharmacies with a reform and make the pharmaceutical and health industry a leading sector. Shortages of medicines and medical devices are to be reduced.

The CDU and the CSU want to keep local pharmacies. They plan a reform for this. Drug companies should have it easier in Germany. Medicines should no longer run short.

The platform describes pharmacies as a first point of contact and as guaranteeing the supply of medicines around the clock. For the pharmaceutical industry it plans better business conditions, regular dialogue with manufacturers and wholesalers, and faster approvals. Supply chains are to be secured. Development of reserve antibiotics and vaccines and research on children's medicines, cancer therapies and rare diseases are to be strengthened.

The CDU and the CSU want to fund long-term care through statutory insurance, employer contributions, tax money and private provision. The statutory long-term care insurance is to be stabilized quickly and thoroughly updated so that needing care does not lead to poverty.

Long-term care costs a lot of money. The money should come from several sources. These are care insurance, employers, taxes and people's own savings. Needing care should not make anyone poor.

According to the platform, affordable supplementary care insurance can close the funding gap; the parties will examine making it more tax-deductible. People who would otherwise depend on social assistance are to be protected in particular. Besides quick stabilization, an overall plan for care in an aging society is to be drawn up. The insurance funds are to be used in a more targeted way to ease the burden on those affected.

The CDU and the CSU want to tackle staff shortages in care with better working conditions and recruitment abroad. Family caregivers are to be supported through a flexible care budget and an easier balance between caregiving and work.

There are not enough care workers. So the work should get better, for example with fixed schedules. Care workers from other countries should also come. People who care for family at home should get more help.

The platform lists predictable shifts, pools of stand-in staff, career paths and new job profiles. Nursing professionals are to get a stronger role in health care, and documentation is to be simplified. A care budget is to be usable flexibly for care services so that many people can live at home for a long time. The Medical Service and the care home inspectorate are to work closely together, and a merger is to be examined. Prevention and rehab are meant to delay the need for care.

The CDU and the CSU reject active euthanasia and want to pass a comprehensive suicide prevention law. Hospice and palliative care are to be expanded to allow people to die with dignity.

The CDU and the CSU are against active euthanasia. That means nobody may kill another person at that person's request. There should be a law that helps prevent suicides. Dying people should get more good care.

The platform places this plan under the heading of protecting life and its dignity. Hospice care and palliative medicine, meaning treatment that eases the suffering of the seriously ill, are to grow. The planned suicide prevention law is meant to protect life.