To hear Karl Lauterbach describe it, it is nothing short of a revolution. Speaking at an annual doctors' conference in early May, the German health minister said the reform plans they had been working on for two years marked a "Zeitenwende" (turning of the times) in German health care — an allusion to the military overhaul Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced after Russia's full invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Some 15 different draft laws are in their "critical phase," Lauterbach told the medical professionals, all of which are part of an attempt to tackle a host of problems the country is facing — including: Too few doctors, too many empty hospital beds, too much financial pressure on hospitals, and poor digitalization standards.

The verdict on his ambitions has been divided: Doctors' associations have praised Lauterbach's intentions, while health insurers have warned they could lead to higher premiums. As Dirk Heinrich, an ear-nose-throat specialist and chairman of the doctors' association Virchowbund, told DW, the reforms are "light and shadow."

Eugen Brysch, chairman of patients' protection organization Deutsche Stiftung Patientenschutz, came to a harsher conclusion: "The Federal Health Minister has many ideas. But it is doubtful whether they are practical," he told DW.

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