The Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Verband Forschender Arzneimittelhersteller, vfa) and Pharma Deutschland have published industry responses to the draft Statutory Health Insurance Contribution Rate Stabilisation Act (GKV-Beitragssatzstabilisierungsgesetz, GKV-BStabG), discussed separately in LiSAH’s article on the wider Federal Ministry of Health (Bundesministerium für Gesundheit, BMG) bill. Their criticism focuses on the cumulative effect of the proposed pricing measures, rather than on the bill’s fiscal objective.
The vfa presents the bill as a shift away from the benefit-based price negotiation model created by the Pharmaceuticals Market Reorganisation Act (Arzneimittelmarktneuordnungsgesetz, AMNOG). It argues that the planned dynamic manufacturer discount would make investment decisions harder to model because the future discount rate would depend on expenditure and income variables outside the control of individual companies.
The association also criticises the proposed rebate contracts for therapeutically comparable patent-protected medicines. In the vfa’s view, these would move treatment choice towards payer-led price competition between different active substances, reducing the weight of AMNOG benefit assessment in actual prescribing. Its president, Han Steutel, linked the measure to a risk that patients receive the cheapest eligible therapy rather than the best-suited option.
Pharma Deutschland gives a similar assessment, while placing more emphasis on supply and market viability. It warns that rebate competition between patented medicines could reduce reimbursement amounts, increase the risk of withdrawals and narrow therapy choice. It also criticises the proposed price-volume fallback rules, arguing that they would reduce negotiation scope where sales exceed agreed expectations.
Both associations welcome the planned abolition of the 20% combination discount and the removal of the 2022 AMNOG negotiation ‘guardrails’. Pharma Deutschland describes the latter as a return to the earlier AMNOG framework for benefit-based price negotiation. However, both argue that these concessions are outweighed by broader new discounts and payer-control mechanisms.
The industry response therefore frames the bill as internally inconsistent: it removes some contested 2022 controls, but adds wider and less predictable pressure on patent-protected products. That argument is likely to shape parliamentary debate as the cabinet draft moves through the Bundestag and Bundesrat.
Source: Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies, vfa; Pharma Deutschland
Links: BStabG: Warum der Kabinettsentwurf Innovation, Versorgung und Standort unter Druck setzt (GKV-BStabG: why the cabinet draft puts innovation, care and Germany as a business location under pressure); GKV-Beitragssatzstabilisierungsgesetz: Risiken für Arzneimittelversorgung und Innovation (GKV Contribution Rate Stabilisation Act: risks for medicine supply and innovation); GKV-Spargesetz bedeutet Rückschritt (GKV savings act means a step backwards); vfa-Stellungnahme zum Referentenentwurf für ein GKV-Beitragssatzstabilisierungsgesetz (vfa statement on the ministerial draft for a GKV Contribution Rate Stabilisation Act)
Date: 29 April 2026
