Market
Health Policy
Health Policy
ID bundesgesundheitsminister
Chapter 13.4
Federal Minister of Health
Responsible AI Competency Standards
Tino Sorge (CDU) is being considered as a potential new Health Minister starting in 2025. An analysis of previous tenures shows that different parties have set various priorities, such as prevention, structural reforms, and market liberalization, while digitalization and hospital financing have remained consistent across party lines. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a lasting impact on health policy.
Written by: Editorial
bundesgesundheitsminister
Update from Jun 25, 2025
Federal Minister of Health from 2025
In social media, the name of Tino Sorge (CDU) is being rumored even before the official announcement of ministerial appointments. There is no contradiction, which increases the likelihood that the current health policy spokesperson of the Christian Democrats will become the next Minister of Health.
Tino Sorge has been a member of the German Bundestag for several years and has particularly made a name for himself in health policy matters. As a member of the Health Committee, he has repeatedly represented positions that aim for a conservative reform of the health care system. His stance on issues such as digitalization in healthcare, financing of nursing services, and cannabis legalization shows a clear line that aligns with the principles of the CDU. This expertise could qualify him for the position of Minister of Health.
Federal Ministers of Health from 2006 to the present
Terms, Parties, and Defining Projects
Since 2003, the German Ministry of Health has been under six different ministers, each of whom set specific accents in health policy. The year 2003 marks the sector entry of the author of this compendium.
This overview analyzes the mandates of the Federal Ministers of Health against the background of party political orientations and the central reform plans of their terms.
Ulla Schmidt (SPD)
→ 2005–2009 – Prevention as a national task
Ulla Schmidt had led the Ministry since 2001 and significantly shaped the health policy of the grand coalition until 2009. Her greatest legacy was the Prevention Act, passed in 2005, which for the first time created binding conditions for health prevention 3. Schmidt established prevention as the fourth pillar of the health system alongside treatment, rehabilitation, and care. With an annual funding of 250 million euros, she laid the foundation for nationwide educational campaigns and lifestyle interventions 3. However, critics accused her of inadequately implementing the integration of pension and accident insurance.
Philipp Rösler (FDP)
→ 2009–2011 – Liberal market orientation
The youngest Minister of Health of the Federal Republic (taking office at the age of 36) set a milestone with the Pharmaceutical Market Reorganization Act (AMNOG) in 2011 4 12. It broke the price monopoly of the pharmaceutical industry through mandatory benefit assessments of new drugs and led to annual savings of 1.5 billion euros 4. At the same time, Rösler came under pressure due to lobbying accusations, as he pushed PKV-friendly regulations like shorter change deadlines for private insurance 12. His attempt to cut family doctor contracts failed due to resistance from the medical profession.
Daniel Bahr (FDP)
→ 2011–2013
ID bundesgesundheitsminister
Chapter 13.4
The links embedded in the text as numbered footnotes stand independently. The reference to the information can be found directly on the page to which the link leads. We have chosen this practice for the sake of the page's clarity. The numbers are not set in the usual order because the revision of the page continuously incorporates new sources.