Grüne on health and care

The Greens want to implement the hospital reform in the state quickly and set up “Regiokliniken” (regional clinics) in underserved areas. Necessary maternity hospitals are to be kept, and midwives are to get more support.

The Greens want new regional clinics where doctors and hospitals are missing. These offer treatment and care in one place. Important maternity hospitals should stay open. Midwives should get more support and fair pay.

Regional clinics would offer outpatient and inpatient treatment as well as nursing care under one roof. Midwife coordination centers and midwife-led delivery rooms are to be funded in more regions. A statewide flat-rate start-up grant is planned for midwives in outpatient practice, especially in structurally weak areas; the aim is one-to-one care during birth. Obesity is to be prevented through health education starting in kindergarten.

The Greens want people with mental illness to get treatment faster and call on the federal level to allow more insurance-funded practice slots for therapists. In the state, help for young people in crisis and counseling centers are to receive more funding.

People with mental illness often wait a long time for help. The Greens want more therapy places. Young people in crisis should find help more easily. Counseling centers and self-help groups should get more money.

Needs planning determines how many practices may bill the public health insurers; it is to be reformed at the federal level. Care for adolescents and young adults in particular should improve, with easy-to-reach services and little red tape. Self-help groups and psychosocial counseling centers would get more money and more public visibility. Peer recovery support is to become an established part of psychosocial care. A crisis intervention center is planned for adults with mental and intellectual impairments.

The Greens want to remove barriers to medical care. They plan services for disadvantaged regions and groups and a funding program for accessible doctors' offices.

The Greens want everyone to be able to see a doctor. There should be help for people without a home. Doctors' offices should be easy to enter for people with disabilities. The state should pay for this.

A prevention project already agreed on is to be carried out in regions with low life expectancy and a high burden of disease, and health kiosks are to be taken up as a concept. Care for trans, intersex and non-binary people is to improve. Homeless people are to get an easy-to-reach general practice service. The Greens advocate that counties and independent cities introduce the electronic health card for asylum seekers. A funding program is to make existing medical and therapy practices accessible, and medical centers for adults with disabilities are to be expanded.

The Greens want to limit the health effects of the climate crisis. The state's heat action plan is to be developed further, and municipalities would have to draw up their own plans.

The Greens say the climate crisis makes people sick. Extreme heat is one example. Every town should make a plan against heat. Hospitals should also prepare better for heat.

The platform argues that the climate crisis increasingly strains both people and the health system. The state heat plan is to be updated. Municipalities would be required to adopt and apply their own plans. Health facilities are also to receive support for climate adaptation, as are hospitals that become climate-neutral and resilient to climate impacts.

The Greens want to secure access to general practitioners and specialists everywhere in the state. This includes mobile services, telemedicine, municipal care centers and abortion services close to home.

The Greens want enough doctors everywhere in the state. In rural areas, doctors should also come to the people. There should be more video appointments. Anyone who wants to end a pregnancy should find help nearby.

In regions with long distances, community buses, ride services such as therapy taxis and mobile practices are to help. Telemedicine will be expanded, and municipalities will keep receiving support when they set up medical care centers (MVZ). "Community health nurses" are to be introduced for easy-access local care. Hospital funding is to help keep safe abortion services available close to where people live. Endometriosis centers will be funded, and research and treatment for long COVID and ME/CFS are to be advanced.

The Greens want to end AIDS by 2030. To that end, education, support services and rapid HIV tests are to be expanded, and access to preventive medication made easier.

The Greens want to end the disease AIDS by 2030. There should be more information. There should be more rapid tests. People with HIV should not be treated worse than others.

The platform considers defeating HIV realistic today. Education and support projects are to receive more funding in order to reduce the exclusion of people with HIV or AIDS. Rapid tests are to become more widely available so that everyone knows their own status. Doctors, other health professionals and community multipliers are to be made more aware so that PrEP and PeP, drugs that protect against infection, are easier to obtain.

The Greens call for a universal Bürgerversicherung (single citizens' health insurance). Until the federal government introduces it, state civil servants are to be able to choose statutory health insurance.

The Greens want one health insurance for everyone. The federal government decides on that. Until then, state civil servants should get a choice. They could then join the public health insurance.

The proposal falls under the goal of financing the health system on a solidarity basis. A universal insurance scheme would have to be passed at the federal level. As an interim step, the state wants to open the way into statutory health insurance for its civil servants.

The Greens want outpatient and hospital care to be planned jointly and regionally. Emergency care is also to become faster, including through integrated emergency centers and local first responders.

The Greens want to plan health care better. Doctors' offices and hospitals should work together more closely. Help should come faster in an emergency. One idea is a rescue helicopter that can fly at night.

The plan includes health or care conferences under public-law sponsorship and pilot projects called "health regions," starting in underserved areas. The joint state committee is to be strengthened. For emergencies, the platform mentions a rescue helicopter on call around the clock and able to fly at night. Hospitals and the association of statutory health insurance physicians will get support in setting up integrated emergency centers once federal law provides the basis. First responders and mobile rescuers will continue to be funded, especially for rural regions.

The Greens want to carry the partial legalization of cannabis further and allow sales in state-regulated outlets. Pilot projects are to take place in Rhineland-Palatinate as well, in order to push back the black market.

Adults may own small amounts of cannabis today. The Greens want to go further. There should be shops that the state controls. Adults could buy cannabis there. This should shrink the illegal trade.

According to the platform, drug policy should rely on prevention, education and help rather than prosecution. The Greens regard the partial legalization so far as a success, including for youth protection. They point to a moderate schedule of fines and unbureaucratic permits for growers' associations in the state. The so-called second pillar, meaning controlled sales in pilot projects, is to come as quickly as possible. At the same time, young adults are to be better protected through more education and prevention.

The Greens want to expand easy-access drug and addiction services to reduce health risks. Substance analysis, known as drug checking, is to be made possible for the first time in the state.

The Greens want more help for people with addiction. There should be rooms where people can use drugs more safely. People should be able to have drugs tested for dangerous substances. Schools should teach more about drugs.

The platform lists needle exchange programs, supervised drug consumption rooms and information services. Drug checking is to be allowed following the example of other states so that users are protected from cut or contaminated substances. A state initiative is planned for large festivals such as Rock am Ring or NatureOne. Education about all drugs and addictions is to grow, especially in schools and youth work. Programs promoting mindful consumption are planned to counter excessive drinking.

The Greens want a policy for older people built on self-determination and participation. It includes a law to support seniors, neighborhood networks, new forms of housing and a stronger voice for older people in municipalities.

The Greens want older people to take part and have a say. A new law should help with that. Neighbors should help each other. Older people should be able to live at home for a long time. They should help decide things in their town.

Instead of large institutions, the Greens want to support neighborhood help, multigenerational projects, shared care apartments and shared transportation. The platform cites the Saarburg model, with village health huts and village cars, as an example that the state and municipalities should spread. Municipal senior councils are to get a real say. A municipal care conference would let older residents, relatives, municipalities and providers decide on services together. Approaches beyond the traditional nursing home, such as care farms, are also to be supported.

The Greens want to relieve people who care for relatives at home. They plan more respite services, a state program for combining work and care, and a push at the federal level for paid care leave.

Many people care for family members at home. The Greens want to help them. There should be more care services for single days or nights. People who pause work to give care should get money to replace their pay. The federal government decides on that.

The platform notes that family caregivers are often overstretched in terms of health, money and social life. Home care services as well as day, night and short-term care are to be expanded. Neighborhood hubs and centers offering care by the hour are to be added. Caregivers are to receive counseling, training and psychosocial help. A state program is to support caregivers who also hold a job.

The Greens want better working conditions, pay and career prospects for nurses, along with new training models. Training in allied health professions is to remain free of tuition, and health workers are to be better protected from violence.

The Greens want better jobs for nurses. They should be paid well. Training should also be possible part-time. Skilled workers from abroad should get help settling in. Training in health professions should stay free of school fees.

Part-time training, dual formats and modular continuing education are to be supported, and highly qualified nurses such as advanced practice nurses are to be allowed more responsibility. For skilled workers from abroad, the plan includes fair recognition procedures, language support and integration guides. The Greens back the Pflegekammer (nursing chamber) and support services that are sensitive to gender, LGBTIQ people and culture. The state is to keep covering training costs in the allied health professions, which have been tuition-free since 2022. Against violence in health care, de-escalation training, security concepts and consistent prosecution are planned.

The Greens want to improve access to abortion and push at federal level for repealing Section 218 of the Criminal Code. Abortions in the first twelve weeks should be lawful rather than merely exempt from punishment. In addition, contraceptives are to be free everywhere and period products freely available.

The Greens want to make it easier for women to end a pregnancy. Section 218 of the criminal law should go. An abortion up to week 12 should be legal. Contraceptives should be free everywhere. Period products should also be freely available.

Abortions are to be part of health care close to where people live. They are to become a fixed part of medical training so that qualified services exist across the state. The party also wants to expand research on gender-sensitive medicine. The findings are to feed into medical practice.