Lower Saxony in a financial bottleneck: municipalities are demanding more support!

Lower Saxony in a financial bottleneck: municipalities are demanding more support!

What makes financing hospitals and daycare centers in Lower Saxony currently so complicated? More and more municipalities feel abandoned by the federal and state governments when it comes to financial resources for basic services. According to a report by kma online Lower Saxony's municipalities recorded a shocking deficit of four billion euros in 2022. Marco Prietz, the President of the Lower Saxony District Council (NLT), recently expressed these concerns in Hanover and made it clear that the municipalities must trust in the state's financing commitments. However, this trust is currently severely shaken.

The situation in hospitals is particularly worrying. For 2024, independent cities and districts will have to raise around 600 million euros to support the clinics - although this is actually the responsibility of the health insurance companies. Prietz criticized this sharply, as it inadmissibly restricted local self-government and the design options of cities and districts.

New regulations for debts in Lower Saxony's municipalities

In order to counteract this tense situation, the red-green state government has announced that it will give municipalities more leeway. According to a report by nwzonline In the future, municipalities will no longer have to offset additional loans for clinics with debts elsewhere. This regulation was presented at a meeting between Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) and the mayors and is set to apply from 2024 to 2026. From 2027, Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach's hospital reform, which many are eagerly awaiting, will come into force.

However, the new regulation is causing outrage in some municipalities, especially in the Friesland district, where a deficit of 32 million euros is expected in the 2024 budget. District Administrator Sven Ambrosy made it clear that the municipalities could hardly expect any financial support from the state and described the situation as frustrating.

Criticism of the shifting of responsibility

The current debt-taking strategy is seen by many as a form of “shifting responsibility”. The NLT general manager Prof. Dr. Hubert Meyer also called for uniform federal obligations to be better fulfilled for the benefit of the municipalities. Some mayors, such as Claudio Griese from Hamelin, pointed out the difficult budgetary situation of the cities and emphasized how important it was that clear solutions were in sight.

The municipal hospitals in Germany play a crucial role in medical care and offer many jobs - this is not only noticeable in Lower Saxony, but is also a nationwide challenge. According to figures, there are a total of 539 municipal hospitals in Germany, which are in serious trouble in many places. The federal government must urgently work on changes to hospital financing so that the states are not left with the deficits of these clinics, as is the case Medical Journal determines.

The situation is clear: the coming period will have to show whether the measures adopted are sufficient to relieve the burden on municipalities and their hospitals. A good way to do this would be to strengthen the financial independence of municipalities and at the same time take on more responsibility from the federal government. Citizens hope that in the future they will not just have to wait for empty promises.