Bundestag set to vote on emergency care reform as Greens signal support
Integrated emergency centers and linking the 112 and 116 117 numbers are meant to ease pressure on ERs. The AfD and the Left Party say the reform falls short.
Symbolic image · Photo: 4028mdk09 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Germany's parliament is expected on Thursday to pass a reform of emergency medical care. The coalition of the CDU, CSU and SPD is making a fresh attempt after the previous government's draft was finished on the very day that coalition collapsed. According to the Federal Statistical Office, hospitals recorded about 13 million outpatient emergency cases in 2024, the highest number since records began in 2018.
The plan creates “integrated emergency centers” at selected hospitals, combining the emergency department, an on-call practice run by statutory health insurance doctors and a triage unit. The emergency number 112 and the medical on-call number 116 117 are to be linked in a shared system, and ambulance services will be added to the social code. That would let paramedics treat patients on site instead of taking them to hospital. Aid organizations warned the rules could endanger the funding and quality of ambulance services.
The Greens say their own bill matches the coalition's by 90% and are likely to vote in favor. “With this law, care will improve considerably and staff will be relieved,” said Greens health expert Janosch Dahmen. Nicole Hess of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) said the reform contained the “right building blocks,” but her caucus considers it too bureaucratic and half-hearted. Stella Merendino of the Left Party said ambulance services and ERs had become a “catch basin” for a health system cut to the bone.