Students develop a new health care system

Extraordinary task for freshman students at Leuphana

Too expensive, inefficient, unsustainable – the German health care system has come under strong criticism, and no real solutions have been presented yet. Can 1,800 students find a way out of this dilemma? At the start of their first semester, all freshman students at Leuphana University of Lüneburg will participate in a 1-week simulation project during which they develop a fundable and fair health care system. They will be supported by nearly 100 chief directors and managers from the field of health as well as by health experts from scholarship, politics and health care organizations.

The kick-off week will be attended by representatives of all leading German health care organizations and the major public and private health insurance companies as well as by representatives of self-governance institutions, professional associations, the German Statutory Accident Insurance, the German Federal Pension Scheme and the Joint Federal Committee. At political level, the kick-off week will be attended by representatives of the European Commission, the German Federal Ministry for Health, and the Lower Saxony Ministry for Social Affairs, Women, Family, Health and Integration. The objective of this event is to develop a new viable model for health care in Germany. Leuphana University hopes that the students’ proposals will deliver interesting ideas for a fundamental reform of the German health care system.

Students will be working on the task assigned to them during the period from October 6-14. On October 14, the results of their work will be presented to a prominent jury, consisting of the following members: Peter Clever (Chief Managing Director of the Federal Confederation of the German Employers’ Associations), Prof. Dr. Ursula Engelen-Kefer (Deputy Chair of the German Labor Union Association until 2006), Dr. Axel Heinemann (Executive Director of Boston Consulting Group), Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kluge (Chief Executive Officer of Holding Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH)) and Frank-Jürgen Weise (Chief Executive Officer of the German Federal Employment Agency).

Potential ways of establishing a new health care system will also be discussed by scholars at Leuphana. Within the scope of the 1. Leuphana Healthcare Discussions held on October 11, 2011, they will meet with leading representatives from insurance companies, health insurances and clinics to discuss the challenges of privatization of the German health care system.

You will find more detailed information on the Leuphana kick-off week here (in German).