Merz: Those who provide data pay 10 percent less health insurance contributions
The "e-patient file for all" is causing a stir. If Merz (CDU) has his way, privacy will soon cost extra. Anyone who is worried about their data will have to pay.
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With the launch of the "electronic patient file for all", it seems increasingly clear where the journey with health data is heading. While police officers want access to the data for criminal prosecution, Friedrich Merz (CDU) spoke in an election campaign speech about a financial advantage for those who donate their health data. Although this point is not in the election manifesto, he is toying with the idea and letting potential voters in on it.
According to Merz, those who store all their health data on the electronic health card "will receive 10 percent less health insurance contributions than those who are afraid and say I don't want it". This was followed by criticism from security researcher Bianca Kastl on Mastodon, among others. Anyone who has stigmatizing illnesses and does not want to store them has to pay extra.
Raising data treasures
According to Merz, there is much more talk about data protection than about data usage, but the population is already much further ahead than politicians in this respect. The CDU/CSU candidate for chancellor mentioned a meeting with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at the last World Economic Forum. Nadella told Merz that German SMEs had a great treasure in their companies. They have "data in production, in sales, in purchasing, in HR management, in all processes". If these were used correctly in conjunction with AI, productivity gains could be achieved. However, Merz leaves open what parallels there are with regard to the use of health data. However, it is undeniable that Microsoft is also advertising programs such as Dragon Ambient Experience in this country and that its software is increasingly being used in hospitals.
Will data protection soon cost extra?
CDU MP Erwin RĂĽddel, among others, has already spoken in the past about the possibility of insured persons selling their data to health insurance companies, as the Tagesspiegel Background reported. After all, this data is particularly valuable. In the past, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach had also repeatedly spoken of an untapped and growing treasure trove of data in relation to the electronic patient file and the Health Research Data Center, in which Microsoft also has an interest.
Lauterbach wants to finally bring Germany back to the top of the world with a unique data infrastructure. In addition to the Health Data Utilization Act (GDNG), the minister had also ensured that the Medical Research Act was passed for his pharmaceutical strategy, which is intended to ensure that pharmaceutical companies once again settle in Germany.
(mack)
