“Germany’s federal cabinet approved a proposed law that would cut in half the number of drugs covered by the massive public health and insurance system. The proposed law had been under consideration since 2000 and is strongly opposed by Germany’s drug industry. It will now be sent to the Bundestag, or Lower House of Parliament, for debate. Bundestag approval is likely as Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s SPD/Greens coalition holds a majority. Currently, German public health insurance covers most of the cost of nearly 40,000 prescription and over-the-counter medicines sold in Germany’s pharmacies, including herbal medicines. Only a few medicines have been placed on a so-called ‘negative list’ that excludes them from being covered by public health insurance. The new law will do away with the negative list and replace it with a ‘positive list’ of medicines covered by public health insurance, cutting the number of covered medicines in half.”

—Ned Stafford, Reuters.com, 4/10/03