Post-tariff German lab reimbursement is surprisingly high
This week HBI has drawn up a snapshot showing how much the German regional doctors’ chambers (KVs) paid for lab tests in Q3 2018, after tariff reform was introduced earlier in the year.
In April 2018, the fixed payment quota was abolished and each KV was allowed to introduce a budget floor. The national tariff (EBM) remained unchanged but KVs could reimburse a minimum quota of 89%.
Commentators across Europe assumed that each region would pay the minimum in order to control costs. Before the reform prices were increasing at a rate of about 5% CAGR. But data collected by HBI reveals that many of the KVs actually paid above the minimum where their budget allowed.
The amount reimbursed fluctuates between quarters, but, from the data available, only KV Berlin paid the minimum amount. A spokesperson for KV Nordrhien said: “If there is enough budget left, we pay more.”
KV Bremen echoed that approach. “The reform on April 1, 2018, has not led to a worsening of laboratory quotas,” said its Q2 report. “The KV could always pay out between 98-100%.”
See how much the KVs paid in Q3, and in some instances how that compared to Q2, below.
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