Doctors' strike and fees: What do doctors really earn?

Doctors' strike and fees: What do doctors really earn?

According to a report by www.morgenpost.de,

There is criticism of the doctors' strike. Health Minister Lauterbach is against higher fees. The doctors are on strike. For the second day in a row, they demonstratively closed their practices on Thursday. The practicing physicians complain: Sales do not keep pace with costs and inflation; On average, around 25.5 percent of the fee sales remained as net income. According to Virchowbund, the protest between the holidays is not just about the question of income, but also about sufficient, sustainable financing in the health system. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) has no understanding of the industrial dispute. With the exception of Switzerland, nowhere in Europe do practices earn as much as in Germany, he argues. Doctors are among the top earners. They also don't have to worry about jobs due to the shortage of doctors. But what do they actually earn?

A practice is financed from two sources. According to the job portal Stepstone, a general medicine specialist earns an average of 86,600 euros gross per year. The salary varies considerably depending on the practice and between the federal states. In purely mathematical terms, doctors earn the best in Hamburg and the least in Brandenburg. The practice is essentially financed by remuneration from statutory health insurance (GKV) and self-payers, who are mostly privately insured. There are fewer private patients in the east, as well as in the socially disadvantaged areas of the big cities. In 2021, according to the Federal Statistical Office, the average income per medical practice was 656,000 euros. Expenses of an average of 333,000 euros were incurred per medical practice.

The law stipulates that only a certain amount of money may be spent in a certain spending range for all GKV insured persons per calendar year. This budgeting applies to general practitioners as well as specialists. The doctors are up in arms against this cap. How high the income is and how quickly it increases depends on the field of study. A radiologist earns many times more than a neurologist, and it also depends on whether a doctor is self-employed or employed. In the first year of employment, an assistant doctor earned 4,695 euros per month in a municipal hospital in 2023 and 4,939 euros in a university clinic. A specialist earned 6,518 euros in his first year of work at the university clinic and 6,196 euros at the municipal hospital. Even if doctors strike in solidarity, their pay varies greatly.

The current strikes by doctors are shining a spotlight on the financial situation of doctors and the general conditions of the health system. The discussion about appropriate fees and fair income ratios is likely to continue as it has important implications for the healthcare market and the financial industry.