Most German citizens are insured by a social health insurance. All diagnostic and therapeutic methods, which are covered by this health insurance, are listed in a catalog of approved methods.
Catalogs exist for diagnostic and therapeutic methods for outpatients as well as for medications.
For hospital stays the companies pay fixed rates per hospital day. Until recently, it was possible for health insurance companies to reimburse diagnostic and therapeutic methods outside the catalog if this was agreed on an individual case by case decision. Due to a new regulation in Germany, health insurance companies do not have this possibility any longer. Reimbursement is restricted to catalog listed methods exclusively. Whether or not any new method will be included in the catalog is decided by a committee made up of the social insurance companies and representatives of their contracted physicians.