New Fee Schedule for Veterinarians Since November 22, 2022

The question that everyone probably asks themselves at the headline is: What does this now mean for me as a horse owner or animal owner? Short and sweet: A lot of things will be more expensive at the next visit to the vet.
Like currently some things in the life also the veterinary surgeon attendance becomes more expensive, because since November 22, 2022 the new fee regulations for veterinary surgeons, briefly GOT, apply.

It refers not only to the horse, but includes all services from the veterinarians, so also the treatment of dogs, cats and other animals.

The fee schedules regulate the various services provided by a veterinarian and set their prices.
By making the prices transparent and binding for every veterinarian, the customer should be given the opportunity to choose the veterinarian based on the services and not on possible price dumping.
The GOT is valid for every practice - this is stipulated in $5 of the new GOT in which it says:
"(...) an undercutting of the simple fee rates is basically not allowed.".

However, local conditions are taken into account, for example, rent in a large city is often higher than in the countryside, and salaries for veterinary assistants also vary and are taken into account in the GOT.

In addition to the treatments, which almost all become more expensive, exception is for example the X-ray, which becomes cheaper: so far it was $39.67 dollars for the first and second admission in the 1-fold rate, since November 22, 2022 it is $28.43 dollars for the same service.

Vaccinations will also become more expensive from $6.18 dollars 1-fold rate for the pure injection to $12.32 dollars, i.e. almost twice as expensive.

The 2-fold rate or even 3-fold rate can be charged by veterinarians if various factors occur, such as difficulties during the examination or the procedure, if the practice routine is disturbed by the patient or if the animal to be treated has a particularly high value. The background to this is, among other things, the associated higher premium in the veterinarian's liability insurance.

The reasons for this increase, apart from the current inflation, are that the GOT has not been revised since 1999. In these 23 years, a lot has changed and science has progressed, which naturally results in a wider range of services, both in the field of diagnostics and in the possibilities of therapies. 

A study by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) in 2020 showed that the previous prices of the 1999 fee schedule no longer covered costs.
The new fee schedule was drawn up on the basis of this study.