Monika Lelgemann /Georg J. Lopata, G-BA
Berlin – At the end of the fourth term of the impartial members of the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA), the impartial chairman Josef Hecken expressly praised the work of the full-time and volunteer members of the commission and criticized the current health policy. Those now leaving the commission “will leave gaps and it will take some time to reach this level again,” Hecken said at the commission’s plenary session yesterday. Hecken himself will remain impartial president of the G-BA for another term.
Arbitrator Monika Lelgemann, appointed to the role by statutory health insurers six years ago, will step down at the end of the month. Lelgemann, who held several roles within the health system as a physician, announced her departure from G-BA a year ago. She chaired the method evaluation subcommittees, organized services as well as psychotherapy and psychiatric care.
“I am very sorry about this and would like to take this opportunity to thank you once again for the work you have done over the past six years,” Hecken said. “Monika, you are making the biggest mistake of your life if you now enjoy life and don’t spend more time with us at G-BA,” said Hecken, addressing her personally.
“I prefer that we continue to deal with the situation together. Because we’re just throwing sandbags here like we did with every flood in the country to maintain the principle of self-administration, evidence and quality.” Hecken alluded to current considerations regarding the “Healthy Heart Act”, in which self-administration should not take over their usual tasks of providing guidance for prescribing medications.
Lelgemann explained that looking back, she now knows “what I will miss about G-BA and what I won’t.” She thanked everyone involved in the committees and in the plenary session for their trust. “And I would also like to thank you personally, Josef, for your trusting cooperation,” Lelgemann said to Hecken.
Hecken also recalled other conflicts that occurred during Lelgemann’s mandate: for example, there was the debate about the care for patients with lipedema, initiated by the then Federal Minister of Health, Jens Spahn (CDU), who wanted to pass the care into law, bypassing the G -BA. At the end of the conflict, G-BA managed to set up a study to generate evidence – the results are still awaited. They should be available this year.
“You drilled very thick boards in six years,” Hecken continued of Lelgemann’s work. Numerous regulations came from the subcommittees: for example, the special regulations during the corona pandemic to allow medical consultations and medical prescriptions despite contact restrictions. “Many of the simplifications of remote care now also apply permanently,” emphasized Hecken. Topics also included transferring early cancer detection services to organized programs and expanding them, for example by increasing age limits for breast cancer screening. Child exams and the expansion of neonatal screening were also expanded at the end of the mandate.
There were also complex discussions on the topic of extra-hospital intensive care. “Here, with the involvement of a broad, specialized audience, she led the event in a fact- and solution-oriented manner and helped shape the content,” Hecken emphasized. In psychotherapy, in addition to numerous adaptations to psychotherapy guidelines, mainly for children, adolescents and adults, complex treatment introduced for people with serious mental illnesses and systemic therapy were also discussed.
“In recent years, a new assessment regime has been implemented by G-BA for non-drug examination and treatment methods using high-risk medical devices. As a result, there has also been a marked increase in clinical studies that have been designed, commissioned and supported by G-BA,” continued Hecken.
Hecken also thanked the volunteer committee members who will be leaving alongside the health insurers and as volunteer representatives of the impartial chairman. “At the end of the term, my thanks also go to Claus Vogel and Christian Zahn, who, as honorary impartial members, supported our work in the areas of requirements planning, method evaluation and pharmaceutical products with their highly committed expertise.” These three committees are headed by Hecken.
As regards the volunteer members of the GKV, including Ulrike Haufe, Monika Lersmacher and Dieter Landrock, who are now leaving, Hecken thanked them for the intense discussions. “Thank you for making an effort, for making an effort, to achieve something to improve the service.”
The Health Committee of the German Bundestag has already confirmed in 2023 the filling of the positions of impartial members proposed by the G-BA sponsoring organizations in the fifth term, which begins on July 1, 2024. In addition to the impartial president Josef Hecken and the impartial member Karin Maag, Bernhard van Treeck will take over the tasks of the third full-time impartial member.
The four sponsoring organizations of the G-BA – the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Practitioners (KBV), the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Dentists (KZBV), the German Hospital Society (DKG) as well as the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds – informed. At the first meeting of the new term, on July 4th, the responsibilities and subcommittees will be reassigned. © bee/aerzteblatt.de