Germany's VPKA calls for stronger rehab and prevention in care reform draft

The Federal Ministry of Health in Germany has released a draft of the Pflege‑Neuordnungsgesetz (PNOG) aimed at shifting long‑term care insurance toward prevention and medical rehabilitation. The Bavarian private hospitals association (VPKA) welcomed the greater emphasis on these measures but said the draft still needs concrete improvements.

VPKA chief executive Michael Strobach stressed that the most effective way to relieve the care insurance system is to keep people from becoming care‑dependent in the first place. He called for quicker, need‑based access to medical rehabilitation and warned that focusing solely on geriatric rehab would overlook important disease‑specific programmes in cardiology, orthopaedics, neurology and oncology.

Strobach urged the ministry to simplify application procedures and remove organisational hurdles that delay or prevent necessary treatments, arguing that a broader, indication‑specific rehabilitation approach can better preserve independence and delay care needs.