On 22 November 2022, the fee schedule for veterinarians will be adjusted (GOT) will come into force. Read here what this means for you and your four-legged friend.
<h2 class="c-blog_head" id="Custom" data-headline="What is the fee schedule for veterinarians (GOT) and what is its purpose?"><span class="first_id_number"></span>What is the fee schedule for veterinarians (GOT) and what is its purpose?</h2>
The GOT is a nationwide legal regulation that defines the framework for veterinary services and thus the billing of veterinarians. It lists all individual items/services of a treatment with a fixed price range - these individual services can be charged at 1 to 3 times the fee rate (in exceptional cases up to 4 times the rate). Which rate is chosen depends, for example, on the difficulty and/or the time required. It is forbidden to undercharge or overcharge. In this way, the GOT ensures fairness in veterinary medicine - it protects you, as the owner, from prices for the treatment of your pet that are too high and protects veterinarians from inexpensive prices that threaten their existence and do not cover their costs.
<h2 class="c-blog_head" id="Custom 2" data-headline="What will change with the new GOT from 22 November 2022?"><span class="first_id_number"></span>What will change with the new GOT from 22 November 2022?</h2>
The scale of fees, introduced in 1978, was last amended in 1999. Fees were increased once in 2017 by 12%. However, a lot has changed and developed in veterinary medicine in the last 20 years - treatment methods and standards have been improving constantly to provide your four-legged friend with the best possible care in every stage of life. Veterinary medicine services are progressively resembling the ones of human medicine. The foundations for this are laid by the ongoing, increasingly demanding training and further education of veterinary surgeons and veterinary assistants (TFAs) as well as the ever-improving possibilities for diagnostics and therapy within the clinic.
In addition to this greatly increased medical standard, many costs within veterinary practices have also risen, such as energy and rent costs, but above all, employee costs. Despite the adjustment of the GOT, the salaries of veterinary staff in Germany are still at the lower end of the spectrum, both internationally and across professional groups. As a result, fewer and fewer university graduates and trainees are choosing to work in veterinary clinics, hence, it will be difficult to guarantee veterinary care in the long term without updating the scale of fees. An increase in the GOT is therefore necessary in order to be able to continue to provide high end veterinary care for your four-legged friend.
<h2 class="c-blog_head" id="Custom 3" data-headline="What will I have to pay as a two-legged friend?"><span class="first_id_number"></span>What will I have to pay as a two-legged friend?</h2>
While some services will decrease in price (e.g. X-rays), many services of the GOT will increase in price by 20-30% - this sounds worrying at first, which we understand of course. However, we assure you that we approach the adjustments to the fees of your visit at Rex very carefully and according to necessity in order to make prices as fair as possible. Additionally, our care team will be happy to explain individual costs to you in advance.
In order to be able to face the rising costs of veterinary care for your four-legged friend, we think it is good and advisable to sign up your four-legged friend for health insurance. This way you are prepared in the best possible way to be able to cope with the financial consequences of an illness or an accident. It is also advisable to have regular preventive check-ups/health checks, including dental health, because neither humans nor animals can foresee illnesses. We recommend that you thoroughly research the different providers and tariffs in order to be able to choose the right cover for your four-legged friend.