Topic analysis

Germany: Merz hails 'historic' health care reform

Germany's Cabinet has approved a "historic" healthcare draft law aimed at curbing spiraling health insurance premiums and addressing insurer deficits, with measures including a 2028 sugar tax, increased prescription drug costs for insured individuals, federal coverage of unemployed people's healthcare, and cuts to coverage for cannabis flowers and homeopathy. The reform has faced criticism from doctors' associations and patient advocates, who argue it amounts to an austerity program that shifts burdens onto patients rather than providing a balanced solution to the system's financial issues.