Friedrich Merz addresses healthcare inequality and housing expropriation

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has addressed two major domestic policy issues: healthcare inequality and housing expropriation.

Regarding healthcare, Merz highlighted the disparity between statutory (GKV) and private (PKV) insurance, specifically noting that statutory patients often face long wait times for specialist appointments compared to private patients. While he characterized this as a justice issue, the federal government clarified that the dual system will remain in place rather than transitioning to a single ‘citizen insurance’ model.

On housing policy, Merz is moving to implement a federal ban on the expropriation of large private housing stocks. This initiative aims to prevent federal states from using Article 15 of the Basic Law to transfer private properties into public or communal ownership. The move follows political pressure from the Left Party (Die Linke) in Berlin, which seeks to socialize large real estate holdings. The Union and SPD have reportedly agreed to pursue this federal law to ensure states cannot enact their own socialization laws.