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HEALTH

UPDATE: Bundestag approves historic coronavirus rescue package

The Bundestag on Wednesday passed an aid package totalling almost €1.1 trillion, as experts said they were still unable to tell if measures to stop the coronavirus spread in Germany were working.

UPDATE: Bundestag approves historic coronavirus rescue package
'Stay home' graffiti in Cologne. Photo: DPA

Germany's Bundestag passed the massive rescue package in a bid to prop up the economy during the coronavirus pandemic.

And it's a historic day, as the government, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel who is currently in self-isolation after coming into contact with a doctor with coronavirus, will take on new debt for the first time since 2013.

The government will seek to borrow €156 billion this year, a sum that exceeds a constitutional limit by €100 billion.

MPs in the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) approved the package set to support hospitals, businesses and the livelihood of citizens, on Wednesday afternoon.

The package will now go to Germany's second house representing the federal states (the Bundesrat), with passage almost certain as state leaders have all unanimously voiced their support.

“There are hard weeks ahead of us,” said Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, who led the debate in place of Merkel. “We can overcome them if we show solidarity.”

READ ALSO: Germany plans €822 billion economic aid package to fight coronavirus crisis

Germany's unprecedented support package began racing through the legislative process the same day Republican and Democratic leaders in the United States Senate announced a deal on a never-before-seen $2 trillion relief programme for the world's top econom

In the Bundestag, Scholz thanked frontline workers like doctors, traders, bus drivers and others who keep public life going despite the risk of infection: “You are doing great things,” he said.

Germany has stopped short of implementing a nationwide lockdown seen in other countries such as France, Spain and Italy, but it has banned gatherings of more than two people and imposed stricter social distancing rules. 

People in Germany are allowed to exercise outside and go to work, as well as shop for essential items – but they must maintain at least a 1.5 meter distance from other people.

That meant the Bundestag was laid out to accommodate these rules. MPs had to have two free spaces between them to allow for a safe distance.

READ ALSO: Germany plans €40 billion 'rescue package' for freelancers and small businesses

“Please keep in mind the rules on keeping your distance!” parliament president Wolfgang Schaeuble urged MPs between votes as they moved around the historic Berlin chamber.

Berlin will create an “economic stabilisation fund” offering €400 billion in guarantees for companies' debts, €100 billion for lending to or taking stakes in firms and €100 billion in support for state-owned investment bank KfW.

With its firepower tanked up by €357 billion, KfW will in future be able to guarantee some €822 billion in lending.

The federal government will offer smaller firms up to €50 billion of handouts.

The Bundestag adopted social distancing on Wednesday. Photo: DPA

Wednesday's package also includes €3.5 billion of immediate support for supplying the health system with needed protective equipment and for developing a vaccine and other treatments, as well as €55 billion that can be freely deployed as needed to fight the pandemic.

'We must wait and see'

It came as the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for public health said it was not yet able to tell whether the measures taken in Germany had been effective against the spread of coronavirus.

As of Wednesday morning there were more than 34,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany, with more than 160 deaths

READ ALSO: German government promises relief for renters amid coronavirus crisis

The number of cases and deaths have grown significantly in recent days.  Cases in North Rhine-Westphalia (more than 9,400) as well as Bavaria with more than 6,300 and Baden-Württemberg (more than 6,000 cases) are particularly high.

“We must continue to wait and see whether the measures are effective,” said RKI President Lothar Wieler in Berlin.

On Monday, Wieler had said experts believed the exponential growth curve could be flattening out somewhat, but he did not want to evaluate this yet.

Wieler confirmed previous statements that Germany is still at the beginning of the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, saying it’s still not known “how this epidemic will develop,” he said.

READ ALSO: What's the latest on coronavirus in Germany and what do I need to know?

Germans support coronavirus measures

Meanwhile, a poll by Infratest Dimap for ARD Deutschlandtrend on Tuesday showed that nearly all Germans support the 'no contact' social measures aimed at stemming the spread of the virus.

According to the poll, a massive 95 percent of Germans are in favour of only meeting with people in their household or with another person over the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, 75 percent of Germans are satisfied with the crisis management by the federal government. Only five percent are not at all satisfied with it, and 18 percent are less satisfied.

The corona-crisis is also working in favour of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU).

In an opinion poll by the Insa institute for Bild newspaper, the CDU/CSU gained five percentage points, landing at 33.5 percent.

READ ALSO: How can workers and businesses benefit from Germany's new aid package?

That's the best result for the party in the survey since the 2017 federal elections – and the highest increase the CDU/CSU has ever achieved in a week. The Social Democrats (SPD) only gained half a point to reach 15 percent.

States implement measures and aid

Several federal states on Tuesday also increased their economic aid to cushion the effects of the crisis.

Rhineland-Palatinate is providing a €3.3 billion package, the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament unanimously adopted an aid package of €25 billion, and Bavarian state premier Markus Söder (CSU) announced that €20 billion would be made available in the budget.

Furthermore, it is now even easier to organise sick leave from work by calling a doctor, rather than visiting a surgery.

According to the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, patients with mild respiratory diseases, such as a common cold, can now take sick leave for up to 14 days after consulting their doctor by telephone. Previously seven days was allowed.

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HEALTH

How to find available therapists in Germany

It’s no secret that mental health care can be particularly tricky to access in Germany. Here are some helpful tips for anyone who is struggling to book an appointment for therapy.

How to find available therapists in Germany

The process to find psychotherapy in Germany’s urban centres is arduous – licensed therapists often have impossibly long wait times, and private practices don’t accept public health insurance.

A major reason that public insurance funded mental health care is hard to find in Germany comes down to regulations. Specifically the ‘coverage plan’ (Bedarfsplanung) that basically limits the number of licences available for publicly insured therapists in a region.

Germany’s maddening bureaucracy probably won’t be fixed any time soon. So residents in need of therapy will need to find a way through the system as it is.

So here are a few helpful tips for finding therapists, as well as how publicly insured patients can have private practice therapy costs reimbursed.

Look for therapists enrolled at academies

You’ll probably have a better chance getting an appointment with therapists who are currently in training, because not everyone knows that this option exists.

You can search for “Akademie für Psychotherapie”, to find one in your location. The Berliner Akademie für Psychotherapie, is one in the capital city, for example.

If you arrange an appointment this way, you can expect to be connected with a grad student therapist in training who needs to complete their supervised practice hours. In this case, you would see your therapist as usual, and they will be going through your session with an experienced therapist afterward.

The main advantages to seeking a therapist in training is that it may be cheaper and you can probably more readily find an appointment. A potential disadvantage is that the therapist you’ll be seeing is less experienced. 

But according to a Stockholm University study, student therapists who receive regular feedback from supervisors may be just as effective as licensed therapists at treating patients.

How to get reimbursed for going to a private practice

As mentioned above, therapists covered by public health insurance are few and far between, especially in many urban centres, and therefore regularly come with long wait times. But for those willing to do battle with the bureaucracy, there is an option to have your costs reimbursed for seeing a private practice therapist.

Specifically, public insurance providers are obligated to provide full reimbursement of costs in the event of a “supply emergency”. 

Waiting times of more than three months are considered unreasonable. So generally, patients can claim a supply emergency if they have contacted several therapists, and none of them offered available appointments within that time frame.

But you’ll want to make sure that your process is properly documented so that you won’t be stuck with the out-of-pocket costs.

First, you’ll need to document your need for psychotherapy. To get this, make an appointment for a psychotherapeutic consultation with a practice in your area, and be sure to collect a written recommendation for treatment (a PTV 11 form). 

If you don’t know where to start with this, look to the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (Kassenärztliche Vereinigung) for a database of therapists. You can also call 116 117 or use the 116 117 App.

After you’ve got your PTV 11 certificate, you’ll need to document your futile search for a licensed therapist. To do this, contact at least three to five therapists that have public health insurance approval. Keep a list of the names of therapists you contacted, as well as dates and times of contact and how long the waiting list for treatment is. 

Additionally, you should try to arrange treatment through the aforementioned Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, and receive confirmation if it’s not possible. So you’ll need to call 116 117, or use the 116 117 App again. But this time go through the process to have them try to find you placement with a therapist. This should take a maximum of four weeks, but rarely happens.

Finally, if you have documented all of the above and have still not found a readily available therapist, then you can seek out a private practice. You’ll need to enroll as a self-paying patient initially, but then you can submit an application for an outpatient reimbursement (Kostenerstattungsverfahren) along with the previously collected certificates and proof of your search. Private practice therapists are usually familiar with this process, and may be able to help you with the application as well.

READ ALSO: What are the main reasons internationals in Germany turn to therapy?

Free phone consultations for students

Students in Berlin can also take advantage of a free 50-minute conversation with a therapist through StudierendenWERK.

For students elsewhere, it’s worth checking what kind of mental health support services your school offers. Many German universities offer mental health support to some extent, and if school counsellors can’t provide the care that you need, they may be able to offer helpful information about where such services are available in your area.

READ ALSO: Here’s how you can get mental health help in English in Germany

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