Germany's Major Healthcare Overhaul Starts in 2026: What Expats Need to Know
Germany is not implementing one healthcare reform in 2026. It is simultaneously restructuring hospital care, statutory health insurance, emergency services, primary care, pharmacies, nursing and digital health. A profound hospital reform will reduce hospital numbers while boosting specialization, supported by a newly established Hospital Transformation Fund, which will allocate €50 billion through 2035.
Germany is not implementing one healthcare reform in 2026. It is simultaneously restructuring hospital care, statutory health insurance, emergency services, primary care, pharmacies, nursing and digital health. With the aim of sustainable financial stabilisation while maintaining good and universal healthcare, both pillars of the welfare state are facing the biggest reforms in recent decades.
Major Changes Underway
A profound hospital reform will reduce hospital numbers while boosting specialization, supported by a newly established Hospital Transformation Fund, which will allocate €50 billion through 2035. Emergency services are being overhauled to address overcrowding, with plans to integrate emergency numbers 112 and 116117 and create Integrated Emergency Centers to streamline patient triage.
Since January 2026, qualified nursing professionals have been allowed to assume greater responsibility for selected healthcare services previously reserved for physicians. The reform also aims to reduce documentation requirements and strengthen nursing participation in care planning.
Digital Health Push
October 1, 2025: Mandate started for physicians, hospitals and pharmacies to use the ePA in routine care. 2026: Sanctions for provider non-use begin. By late September, physicians had uploaded roughly 25 million documents to the ePA.
Practical Impact for Expats
As an expat or foreign resident, you may encounter reduced hospital availability in some regions as Germany consolidates facilities and strengthens specialist centers. Emergency care pathways are being restructured—calling 112 (emergency) or 116117 (non-emergency medical helpline) will route you through new Integrated Emergency Centers. Your GP and pharmacy will increasingly push you to use the ePA (electronic patient record), which is now automatically created for all GKV members unless you opt out. If you don't speak German fluently and rely on paper communications, prepare to engage more with digital tools and ensure your health insurer provides English support.
Sources
Independent app, not a government. General information, not advice. The official source:
