Best healthcare system? :
Symposium sheds light on gaps in care

Germany is internationally recognised as having one of the best healthcare systems. But the reality shows another side: thousands of people in Hesse are also excluded from regular access to medical care because they have no health insurance cover. The consequences are serious. Every year, avoidable illnesses and deaths occur because treatment is provided too late or not at all.

People with a history of flight and migration, people with unresolved social benefit claims, people affected by homelessness or discrimination and people who owe contributions to health insurance providers are particularly affected. The conference, which took place on 23 October 2025 at the Frankfurt am Main Health Department, made it clear that although low-threshold offers such as the humanitarian office hours of the Frankfurt Health Department, Malteser Medicine for people without health insurance or the Elisabeth Street Outpatient Clinic of Caritas are indispensable, they can only cover a fraction of the actual need. Significant gaps in care continue to pass, particularly in inpatient and emergency care.

The structural challenges in the medical care of pregnant women and in inpatient and emergency care took centre stage in workshops and specialist lectures related to practice. The symposium was organised as part of a transdisciplinary network in order to bring together different knowledge, diverse competences and institutional reach and thus promote a strategic approach to social change. The course provided an important platform for exchange, cooperation and networking between the actors involved.

Central University Administration results of the exchange emphasised a strong need for action in the area of interdisciplinary knowledge management in the care of people without health insurance. The need to pass on knowledge in the area of care for people without health insurance between authorities, social work and medical staff was particularly emphasised. In addition, practitioners emphasise the relevance of preventative measures in this area. The experts also emphasise the integration of low-threshold offers into standard care as a decisive step towards a sustainable improvement in the care situation.

In view of the great response and the fact that the course was quickly fully booked, a renewal of the symposium is planned for 2026 in order to continue the discussion and collaboration on improving the care situation for people without health insurance cover in Hesse.

Organisers of the Faschtagung:
Fulda University of Applied Sciences, DIFIS/BMAS, Diakonie Hessen, Elisabeth-Straßenambulanz, Hessisches Landesamt für Gesundheit und Pflege, Malteser Hilfsdienst e.V., Gesundheitsamt Frankfurt am Main

Note for media representatives:
Interested journalists are cordially invited to attend a background discussion on the current care situation and ongoing initiatives in Hesse. Academic contact: Professor Dr Ilker Ataç, Department of Social Work, Fulda University of Applied Sciences, ilker.atac(at)sw.hs-fulda.de