Cottbus scraps emergency transport fees after insurer deal
Cottbus (dpa/bb) – Plans to introduce potential fees for emergency transport services in Cottbus have been shelved—for now. The city and health insurance providers have reached a mutually acceptable compromise on funding emergency medical services, according to a statement from the Brandenburg Ministry of Health. "Under this agreement, no invoices for emergency transport fees will be sent to affected patients by the city of Cottbus."
Emergency ambulance and emergency physician callouts come at a cost—even when patients are not ultimately taken to the hospital. Typically, counties and independent cities cover these expenses, which are later reimbursed by health insurance funds.
However, in January, the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg ruled that non-emergency or "empty" trips—where no patient is transported—do not have to be covered by insurance providers. In 2025, Märkisch-Oderland became the first district to issue fee notices for emergency transports, though the cases at the time did not specifically involve empty runs.
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