The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians had earlier warned that one in five German doctor is due for retirement. Andreas Koehler, KBV director, said by 2012 more than 34,000 medics will retire. Germany has around 100,000 registered physicians.
They blamed the government's belt-tightening measures that caused a patient shift from seeking medical care in doctor's clinics to hospitals and larger medical facilities.
Young Germany doctors are practicing their profession in other countries where they have better income opportunities. To address this issue, Koehler told the DPA news agency proposed amendments to policies on doctor's fees must be implemented by early 2009, which would allow higher fees to be charged for patients with more serious ailments.
In the state of Brandenburg, to address the physician shortage, it opened its doors to doctors from eastern Europe. Most of them were from Poland, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria. To go around stringent German labor laws, they register in their countries as freelancers to entitle them to work up to six months in Germany.
