CDU Economic Council plans to cut the reimbursement of travel costs by the GKV – BVTM warns of social consequences

In his paper, the Economic Council argues that the GKV should in the future only cover medically necessary treatments and that benefits such as dental treatments, orthodontics, and travel costs will no longer be covered on a solidarity basis. The proposed change aims to reduce the expenditures of the GKV and to strengthen the insured's personal responsibility.

The discussion about reducing the coverage of travel costs by the GKV is part of a broader reform proposal by the CDU Economic Council, which also concerns other services such as dental treatments and orthodontics. Whether and to what extent these proposals will be implemented remains to be seen.

Travel costs should be borne by the patient

The CDU Economic Council proposes that insured persons under statutory health insurance should bear some health care costs themselves.

“Various services can be well privately insured or paid for out of pocket and should no longer be borne by premium payers in the PAYG system,” the position paper says.

Among other things, travel costs for treatments are mentioned.

In the statutory health insurance (GKV), expenditures for travel costs in the first half of 2025 totaled just under €5.2 billion and rose by about 10 percent compared with the first half of 2024. For dental treatment – excluding dental prostheses – the statutory health insurers spent €7.4 billion in the first half of 2025; here the expenditure increase is 4.5 percent.

The Federal Association of Taxi and Rental Cars (BVTM) voices sharp criticism of the CDU Economic Council's proposals. Michael Oppermann, BVTM's managing director, explains:

“Especially among the weakest in society, the CDU Economic Council wants to cut spending—among people with disabilities, the chronically ill, and those in need of care. The best therapist is useless if the patient cannot reach him. You can't walk to dialysis—not even the thinkers at the CDU Economic Council. A taxi ride to radiotherapy or to chemotherapy is not a luxury but a medical necessity.”

No travel cost reimbursement - more inpatient admissions?

Oppermann points to earlier cutback attempts that led to dramatic consequences. After the health reform of 1989, in which the coverage of travel costs was removed, there was an acute overload of hospitals due to inpatient admissions – with markedly higher downstream costs for the healthcare system. The reform was reversed after a few weeks. In 2004 the regulation was tightened again – with tragic consequences: Already in the first week after the change, a dialysis patient died because he could no longer afford the taxi to the treatment. This regulation was also quickly revised.

“It is not about ‘convenient taxi rides’, but about medically prescribed, medically necessary transportation – and only if the strict requirements of the health insurance guidelines are met. The notion that every trip to the doctor would be automatically covered is simply false,” Oppermann continued.