17 October 2022•Update: 17 October 2022
BERLIN
Some German hospitals could go bankrupt because of the energy and inflation crisis, the nation's health minister warned late Sunday.
"If we do not react there quickly and also really drastically, there will be closures," Karl Lauterbach told public broadcaster ARD, adding that he will negotiate with Finance Minister Christian Lindner on Tuesday about more government aid for hospitals.
However, he could not give "any order of magnitude" regarding the amount of aid until then, he added.
On calls for there to be some kind of "special fund" for hospitals in Germany, similar to the special €100 billion ($97.4 billion) fund for the military, Lauterbach reacted negatively. "We cannot introduce a special fund for every area," he said. After all, Lauterbach continued, "everything has to be paid off."
The background to Lauterbach's comments are demands by the German Hospital Association for rapid aid from politicians. The society fears otherwise closures of numerous hospitals. According to the German Hospital Association, the financing gap for material costs and energy adds up to around €15 billion in 2022 and 2023.
The inflation rate in Germany rose to 10.9% in September. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) explained that the inflation rate had thus reached "a historic high since German reunification." The reasons are "enormous price increases" for energy products and food.
Leading German economists have been warning for some time that rising gas prices could push the EU's largest economy into recession. According to the experts, Germany will be one of the countries hardest hit by the global economic slowdown next year.
