Schwerin (dpa / mv) - Schwerin's mayor Rico Badenschier (SPD) has criticized changes to the federal corona test regulation. The federal government recently decided that the municipal health authorities should check the billing of the Corona rapid test centers at the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KV), according to a statement from the city on Thursday. Badenschier described this transfer of tasks “to the already overburdened health authorities” as “irrelevant”.
The municipalities would have resisted it at all levels. "The Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians pays the bill and anyone who pays an invoice must also check that it is correct," demanded the mayor. "I expect this error in the test regulation to be corrected and this task returned to the KV."
According to a statement from the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) on Thursday, the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians was no longer able to carry out an accounting check after the Federal Ministry of Health had introduced detailed eligibility requirements for the citizen tests. Against the background of "the blatant fraud problem", the associations of statutory health insurance physicians had informed the ministry that they could no longer bill and pay out citizen tests.
The KBV and the ministry then agreed on a billing procedure. According to this, the associations of statutory health insurance physicians only check the form and mathematical accuracy, but not whether there is actually a claim to a test.
According to the current rules, free rapid corona tests are only available for risk groups and other exceptional cases. Under certain conditions - such as for family celebrations, concerts or meetings with people over 60 - only one additional payment is due.
Eugen Brysch, head of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, pointed out that according to the amended regulation, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) should first use statistical analyzes to find anomalies in the accounts. Only after information from the RKI should the health authorities become active.
However, the RKI cannot do this work with its staff. It is a solution that everyone knows cannot be implemented, said Brysch. The door is wide open to fraud. It is a political compromise in the sense of the Federal Ministry of Finance, which wanted to introduce costs for the corona tests. Brysch called for a return to free citizen tests.
