What do the parties in Rhineland-Palatinate say on health and care?

The AfD wants to secure outpatient care by making it financially easier for doctors to set up practice and by helping municipalities recruit doctors. Budget caps on treatments would be dropped, and clawback claims and cost-efficiency audits curbed.

Many doctors' offices cannot find a successor. The AfD wants to help doctors open or take over a practice. There should be money for this. Doctors should no longer have fixed spending limits for treatments. Towns and villages should also get help from the state.

The AfD wants to cut administrative work in health care substantially so that more time is left for patients. Digital tools should only be introduced with strict data protection, and the electronic patient record should require prior consent.

Doctors and nurses should have less paperwork. Then they have more time for patients. New computer programs should really make work easier. The electronic patient record should only exist if the patient says yes first. Patient data should not be stored in one central place.

The AfD wants to prevent hospital closures and provide more state investment funding for that purpose. A new fund is meant to clear the renovation backlog and absorb deficits at municipal hospitals.

Many hospitals have money problems or have to close. The AfD wants to stop that. The state should give more money to hospitals. A new fund should pay for repairs and upgrades. Towns and counties should be able to keep their hospitals this way.

The AfD wants to make nursing and medical assistant professions more attractive through higher qualifications and better pay. For doctors, working conditions, pay and work-family balance are to improve so that fewer leave for other countries or other industries.

Nurses and assistants should be able to learn more and earn more. They should take over more tasks from doctors. Doctors should get better working conditions. Work and family should fit together better. Then fewer doctors will move abroad.

The AfD wants to create significantly more places in medical school and replace the high school grade cutoff (Numerus Clausus) with a different admission procedure. The rural doctor scholarship and rural doctor quota are to be extended to more specialties.

The AfD wants more places to study medicine. School grades should no longer decide who gets a place. A new process should check who is suited for the job. Students who later work in the countryside should get a scholarship. A scholarship is money for studying.

The AfD wants to guarantee the legally required ambulance response times statewide and expand emergency rooms as needed. Volunteer first responders are to be given the same status as volunteer fire departments.

An ambulance should arrive within 15 minutes of an emergency call. A suitable hospital should be reachable within 30 minutes. The AfD wants to secure this everywhere in the state. Emergency rooms should be expanded. Volunteer first responders should be treated like volunteer firefighters.

The AfD wants foreign medical degrees and work references to be examined more closely, especially those from non-EU countries. In addition to language certificates, an equivalence exam at the level of German state or specialist exams would be mandatory.

Some doctors studied in other countries. The AfD wants to check their certificates more closely. These doctors should speak German well and prove it. They should also pass an exam like German doctors do. Without proof of language skills, they should not get permission to work.

The AfD wants the state government's COVID measures and their consequences to be investigated. People who suffered health damage from a COVID vaccination are to receive support or compensation, as are their relatives and surviving dependents. Post-vac syndrome is to be recognized as an illness.

The AfD wants to review the state's COVID policy. It asks what harm was done. People harmed by a COVID vaccine should get money or help. Their families should too. Post-vac should count as an illness. Post-vac means health problems after a vaccination.

The AfD rejects any vaccine mandate and other compulsory medical measures, citing the fundamental right to physical integrity. It wants to prevent international bodies such as the WHO from gaining influence over the state's health policy. It also opposes the new retainer payment for general practitioners.

The AfD does not want any vaccine mandate. All treatment should be voluntary. The WHO should have no say in Rhineland-Palatinate. The WHO is the World Health Organization. Family doctors should not get money for vaccinating many people.

The AfD wants more training places in nursing and scholarships tied to several years of work in Rhineland-Palatinate. It rejects the unified nursing training program and wants to return to separate professions. The Landespflegekammer (state nursing chamber) is to be dissolved.

The AfD wants to train more nurses. People who get a scholarship should then work in the state for some years. There should again be separate training for hospital nursing and elder care. The state nursing chamber should be closed.

The AfD wants every pregnant woman to be able to reach a maternity ward within 40 minutes and to have one-to-one care from a midwife. To that end, existing wards are to be kept and new ones built. The number of C-sections is to fall.

Every pregnant woman should reach a maternity ward in 40 minutes. One midwife should care only for her. The AfD wants to keep maternity wards and build new ones. Midwives should get affordable insurance. There should be fewer C-sections.

The AfD wants to introduce a care salary that gives financial security to people who look after relatives at home. Home care is to become a central part of the social security system. The platform points out that most people needing care are looked after at home.

Many people care for relatives at home. They get no salary for it. The AfD wants to introduce a care salary. It should give these people enough to live on. Care at home should become more important.

The CDU wants to fund practice clinics that bundle general and specialist care in large counties and in regions where hospitals have closed. The state would finance them without requiring a local co-payment. Health, nursing care and emergency medicine would be combined in one ministry.

The CDU wants to build practice clinics. These are centers with family doctors and specialists under one roof. They would be set up where hospitals have closed. The state pays for setting them up. Care services and pharmacies would also be part of them.

The CDU wants to shorten waiting times for specialist appointments by strengthening appointment service centers and expanding digital booking. Telemedicine and video consultations would become a fixed part of standard care, especially where doctors are scarce.

The CDU wants patients to get specialist appointments faster. More appointments would be arranged digitally. Video visits with a doctor would become normal. This helps most in areas with few doctors.

The CDU wants to raise the number of medical school places to 650 and found a second medical faculty. It argues that 40 percent of doctors in private practice are already over 60. A state program is also meant to win back doctors or persuade them to keep working.

The CDU wants more places to study medicine. There would be 650 places, at least 200 more than now. A second medical faculty would also be set up. Many doctors will retire soon. A program would bring doctors back into the job.

The CDU wants emergency medical services to arrive within ten minutes at most. Emergency doctor bases would be kept, especially in rural areas, and air rescue would be expanded as needed and technically upgraded.

An ambulance should arrive in 10 minutes at most. Emergency doctor bases in rural areas should stay. Rescue helicopters should fly where they are needed. They should also be able to fly well at night.

The CDU wants to set up a state health office that coordinates local health departments and ensures uniform standards. By 2030, hospitals, outpatient providers and emergency services are to be digitally linked. Prevention and addiction services are also to be strengthened.

The CDU wants a new state office for health. It will guide and support local health offices. Hospitals, doctors and emergency services will be linked digitally by 2030. Prevention and help with addiction will also get better.

The CDU wants to improve funding for midwife-led delivery rooms and midwife coordination centers, and to introduce an official state midwife and a midwife registry. At the federal level it wants full pay restored for freelance midwives working in hospitals. Sex-specific differences in medicine are also to receive more attention.

The CDU wants to support midwives better. There will be an official state midwife and a list of all midwives. The list shows who offers which help and where. The CDU also wants to pay more attention to women's health.

The CDU wants to secure every hospital in the state with a fund of 150 million euros a year until the federal hospital reform takes effect. A state investment program is to modernize buildings, digital systems and medical equipment. Hospital planning is to be guided by quality, accessibility and need rather than centralization.

The CDU wants to keep all hospitals in the state. It plans 150 million euros each year for this. The state will also pay for buildings and equipment. Hospitals should stay close to where people live.

The CDU wants to raise the number of training places in nursing care by at least a quarter and equip nursing schools digitally. Care workers are to be relieved through simpler procedures and digital record-keeping. Responsibility for care is to be brought together in one ministry.

The CDU wants to train more people for care work. There will be at least one quarter more training places. Care workers should have less paperwork. One single ministry will be in charge of care.

The CDU wants to reorganize the state's nursing chamber. It is to represent care workers' interests transparently, but membership is to be voluntary.

The nursing chamber speaks for care workers in the state. Today care workers must be members. The CDU wants to change that. Each care worker should decide whether to join.

The CDU wants to support family caregivers with more counseling, additional respite places and emergency plans. Home care, shared care housing and a pilot project for neighborhood-based care are to strengthen care close to home. Hospice and palliative services are also to grow.

Many people care for relatives at home. The CDU wants to help them more. There will be more places for short-term care and day care. Care in people's own neighborhood should also get better.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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.

The SPD wants to reorganize hospital care in light of the hospital reform: specialized centers for major treatments, emergency care reachable everywhere, and new Regiokliniken (regional clinics) for care close to home. The goal is good care in both cities and rural areas.

The SPD wants to reorganize hospitals. Serious illnesses should be treated in special centers. Emergency help should be available everywhere. New regional clinics should help close to home, also at night and on weekends.

The SPD wants to expand outpatient care and aims for an appointment guarantee for everyone, whether publicly or privately insured. Primary care, especially in rural areas, is to be secured with new models and help for doctors setting up practice.

The SPD wants more care from doctors in local offices. Everyone should be sure to get an appointment. The type of insurance should not matter. More doctors should work in rural areas.

The SPD wants to fund more hospices and palliative services. According to the platform, the seriously ill and the dying should be well cared for and accompanied, regardless of origin, income or place of residence.

The SPD wants more hospices. A hospice is a place for people who are dying. They get good care and company there. This should be possible for everyone, no matter how much money they have.

The SPD wants to reform how pharmacies are paid in order to keep pharmacies close to where people live. The state is also meant to ensure that important medicines remain available despite supply shortages.

The SPD wants to keep pharmacies nearby. For this, pharmacies should be paid in a different way. Important medicines should always be available. The state should help with that.

The SPD wants to channel money from the federal special fund into hospital infrastructure. New buildings and modernizations are to be climate-friendly and energy-efficient.

The SPD wants to put a lot of money into hospitals. The money comes from the federal government. Buildings should be new or improved. They should use little energy and protect against heat.

The SPD wants to attract more skilled workers from abroad for health and nursing professions. Their qualifications are to be recognized more simply and quickly so they can work in their field soon and stay in the state.

The SPD wants to bring skilled workers from other countries. They should work in nursing and medicine. Their degrees should be accepted faster. They get help with learning German and with daily life.

The SPD wants to attract more young people and career changers to nursing and health professions and modernize training. Regional care pools are meant to step in during staff shortages and relieve permanent staff.

There are too few care workers. The SPD wants to win more people for these jobs. Training should become more modern. Care pools are teams that step in when staff are missing.

The SPD wants to expand health promotion in everyday life so that illnesses are avoided where possible. This includes municipal prevention networks, more vaccination campaigns and better-connected early detection programs.

The SPD wants people to stay healthy. There should be more programs in daycare, schools and workplaces. Getting vaccinated should be easy and close to home. Illnesses should be found early.

The SPD supports an opt-out system: anyone who does not explicitly object counts as a potential organ donor. According to the platform, this would strengthen solidarity without restricting self-determination.

Many people are waiting for an organ. The SPD wants a new rule. Everyone is then an organ donor unless they say no. There should be a lot of information about it.

The SPD wants to advance digital technology across the health care system and connect facilities better. According to the platform, digital services should supplement care, not replace it.

The SPD wants more digital technology in medicine and care. Hospitals, care homes and health insurers should share data better. Older people get help with the electronic patient record. Technology should not replace doctors.

The SPD wants to further expand maternity care and make it easier for midwives to start their careers. Those who become self-employed in Rhineland-Palatinate for the first time after their studies would receive 1,000 euros a year for five years.

The SPD wants to help parents-to-be. There should be more offices that help find a midwife. New self-employed midwives get 1,000 euros a year. They get the money for five years.

The SPD wants to give women's health more weight because, according to the platform, women are underrepresented in research, diagnostics, and treatment. Women's medicine and gender-sensitive research are to be firmly anchored in training and practice.

The SPD wants to do more for women's health. Research should pay more attention to women. Doctors should learn more about it. Illnesses like breast cancer and endometriosis should get better care.

The SPD wants to give mental health a bigger place in health care because, according to the platform, crises weigh especially on children and young people. It plans easy-to-access therapy and support, more prevention, and closer cooperation between schools, youth services, and the health system.

The SPD wants to do more for mental health. Many people suffer because of crises, especially children and teens. There should be more help that is easy to get. Schools should offer more counseling by psychologists.

The SPD wants to plan long-term care ahead of time and permanently fund the state's 135 Pflegestützpunkte (local care advice centers). Data-based planning is meant to reveal regional shortages early so that local services can be adjusted.

The SPD wants to plan care better. Data should show where care services are missing. The 135 care advice centers should get secure funding. These centers give advice about care.

The SPD wants to set up local care centers statewide that combine home care and residential care close to where people live. Family caregivers are to get relief, and care workers are to have more time for people and less paperwork.

The SPD wants care centers close to home all over the state. They offer home care and nursing home care in one place. Family members who give care should get help. Care workers should have less paperwork.

The SPD wants to fund housing and care projects that combine independence, community, and support in old age. Money from the Sondervermögen (special public fund) is also to go to neighborhood projects for this purpose.

The SPD wants to support new ways of living in old age. People live together there and get care. Money from a special public fund should also pay for this.

The SPD wants to survey the members of the Pflegekammer (the state's professional chamber for nurses and care workers) in 2026. The aim is to confirm that the chamber will continue to represent the profession's interests.

The care chamber speaks for care workers in the state. The SPD wants to ask its members in 2026. This should make clear that the chamber should stay.

The SPD wants to keep strengthening the public health service and continue its digitalization so the state is prepared for future crises. The post-COVID outpatient clinics are to stay in place.

The SPD wants to make the public health offices stronger. They should work more digitally. This way the state is ready for crises. Special clinics for people with post-COVID should stay.

The SPD wants to expand obstetric care and secure medical care for families, women, and children, especially in rural areas. This includes funding for pediatricians and new practice models such as "Family Doctors."

The SPD wants more maternity care in the state. Rural areas should have enough children's doctors. The state gives money for this. New practices should have doctors for the whole family in one place.

The SPD wants to secure and further develop the clearing offices for people without health insurance on a lasting basis. It sees them as contributing to better medical care and to fighting poverty.

Some people have no health insurance. Special advice offices help them get insured again. The SPD wants to support these offices for the long term. It will check whether more offices can be opened.

The SPD wants to link the emergency numbers 112 and 116117 more closely and better connect ambulance services with emergency rooms and the on-call physician service. Remote emergency physicians, digitalization, additional ambulance stations and air rescue are to be expanded.

The SPD wants to improve help in emergencies. The emergency numbers 112 and 116117 should work together more closely. There should be more ambulance stations. Doctors should support paramedics by video more often. More people should learn first aid.

Civil servants are to be able to stay in statutory health insurance, with the state paying the employer's share. The SPD says this strengthens statutory health insurance and solidarity and eases the burden on those affected.

Civil servants should be able to stay in public health insurance. The state then pays part of the premium. An employer does the same for regular employees. The SPD says this makes public health insurance stronger.