THE REVISED VETERINARY FEE SCHEDULE 2022

Veterinary fees are regulated by law - as are the fees of other professions such as chimney sweeps or lawyers, namely by the Veterinary Fee Schedule (GOT = Gebührenordnung für Tierärzte). A new GOT will apply from November 22, 2022. This will be accompanied by a statutory adjustment of fees - the first in 23 years. This applies to all veterinary practices and clinics and must be implemented by them. If veterinarians undercut the GOT prices, for example, as a gesture of goodwill, this can be accompanied by a fine.

The GOT was adapted primarily to ensure that veterinary practices and clinics can continue to be managed economically in the future. This is the only way to ensure that animals can be cared for nationwide. Appropriate statutory remuneration also ensures adequate compensation and thus a high quality level of services and thus serves above all animal welfare.

In addition, the GOT ensures transparency: taking into account the one to fourfold rate, the prices in all veterinary practices and clinics are within a certain range. On the one hand, this transparency protects the customer from excessive prices and, on the other hand, ensures appropriate remuneration of the veterinarians as well as their teams.

You may have noticed that maintaining veterinary services, for example, night and emergency services, has become increasingly difficult in recent years. This is due in part to what has become a dramatic shortage of veterinarians and skilled workers.

Our industry must become more attractive for veterinarians and specialists. We at AniCura will use the GOT and salary adjustments to improve our working conditions and thus increase the attractiveness of the industry - for the benefit of the animals.

Please consider purchasing animal health insurance for your pet. With the help of an animal health insurance, veterinary costs for operations or treatment of illnesses can be covered – for dogs, cats and rabbits.

The GOT regulates which remuneration veterinarians receive for their services. The last contentwise adjustment of the GOT dates to 1999. The GOT serves on the one hand the protection of the animal owners against excessive prices. On the other hand, it ensures that there is no aggressive price competition, which could jeopardize the quality of treatment. The fee schedule sets a fee range from a minimum of one to a maximum of three times the rate. The rate is determined by the circumstances of the case, the difficulty of the service and the time required.

Independent information on the revised scale of fees for veterinarians as well as an explanatory video can be found on the pages of the Tierärzteverband (Veterinary Association) and the Bundestierärztekammer (Federal Veterinary Chamber).