German doctors approve reimbursement catalogue:

Proposals for the new German reimbursement catalogue for the office-based doctors sector has gained the universal approval of doctors associations around the country. The catalogue, known as the EBM 2000plus, was presented last week in Berlin by the federal association of statutory health insurance physicians. It must now be put before the evaluation committee of the federal committee of doctors and sickness funds in two months time. The difficulty, said the KBV's principal chairman, Manfred Richter-Reichhelm, will be to get the backing of the sickness funds. "If we cannot agree at the evaluation committee stage, then we will not shy away from further debate at the extended evaluation committee stage," he said. The EBM 2000plus should be in place either by October 1 2003, or January 1 2004 if an early agreement cannot be made.