An investigative report on the differences in treatment of patients with various kinds of insurance by German dentists is causing outrage in Germany because it showed asylum seekers were more financially desirable patients than most Germans.
In the segment aired by public broadcasting company ZDF, a dentist said that he and his colleagues would rank patients in several categories. Private patients were the most desirable, closely followed by asylum seekers. “Social services pay for everything with taxpayer money”, the dentist – who remained anonymous – said.
Patients with the standard German health insurance conversely were much less welcome as the refunds were usually much lower, he continued.
Emre Uysal, a dentist from Cologne, confirmed that patients with the standard German health insurance are actually “loss makers” for doctors because the costs often exceed the budget per patient which the health insurance companies will refund.
A newsletter by a German doctors’ network confirms this. It recommends that dentists focus on treatments that are not subject to the health insurance companies’ budget constraints. These include treatments paid for by the state such as those paid for by welfare offices or treatments of asylum seekers.
He also said that the influx of Ukrainian refugees meant that ordinary patients had to wait longer for appointments. “Ukrainian patients have told me that in Ukraine people must pay for all their high-quality dentistry out of pocket. Consequently, we have patients [from Ukraine] with a big demand for treatment. The consequences for other patients are clear: the waiting times get longer and longer”, he explained.
The remarks are a late vindication for Friedrich Merz, leader of the Conservative CDU party. In September 2023, Merz said that asylum seekers were clogging up the German health system. “They sit at the dentist’s and get their teeth done new and the German citizens next door do not get an appointment”, Merz said on German TV. He was accused of incitement and ignorance by the Left, even though dentists asked by conservative media confirmed Merz’ claims.
The deteriorating quality of the health system is currently high on the agenda in Germany. At the start of the new year many health insurance companies have raised contributions – in some cases by 16 per cent. At the same time health insurance covers ever fewer costs. Since the EU ban on amalgam, a alloy of mercury used for fillings, took effect on January 1, 2025, for examples, dentists’ patients with standard insurance need to pay around €100 themselves for fillings. Experts attribute this discrepancy to the ever-rising number of people who do not contribute to the German health insurance system but still obtain benefits.
Preferential treatment for asylum seekers at dentists’ angers Germans – Brussels Signal