The skin check and the Check-up go back to the examiners

Two appointments that millions of people in Germany know by heart are being looked at again from first principles: the skin-cancer screening every two years from 35, and the general health Check-up. This week the doctors’ association KBV reported that experts from medicine and practice have until 23 November to send in their assessments¹. The review itself belongs to the Federal Joint Committee, the G-BA, which must finish by the end of 2027; until then, the KBV notes, the entitlement stays exactly as it is¹.

Why now. The review was ordered by parliament in the law meant to stabilise statutory health-insurance contributions¹. The reasoning attached to the law is blunt. It says the benefit of the skin-cancer screening, measured as fewer deaths from skin cancer, “has not yet been clearly demonstrated” (desk translation), and says the same of a Check-up that is not limited to people with particular needs or focused on particular diseases¹. Check-ups aimed at heart and circulatory disease and their related risks, by contrast, could reduce illness and death, the reasoning says¹.

What is on the table. For the skin check, the G-BA must consider who demonstrably benefits, such as people with fair skin, a family history or heavy UV exposure, and whether the two-year rhythm should change¹. The offer has been unchanged since 2008². For the Check-up, now available once between 18 and 34 and every three years from 35², the review covers age limits, target groups, frequency, content, differences between the sexes and the target diseases, with a focus on the heart and circulation¹. The urine dipstick test and a one-off HIV test within the Check-up will be assessed too¹. The evidence review has gone to IQWiG, the institute that weighs studies for the system¹.

How to read it. A review driven by a savings law will be read by some as a cut in disguise. The procedure is the better guarantee: an independent evidence review, a public call to experts, a decision by the body that also has to defend it to patients. A screening that targets the people it helps can do more good with the same appointments, not less. And both bodies make the point that matters most for you: a mole that changes, or a symptom that worries you, can be checked by a doctor at any time, screening or no screening^1,2.

For you. If your skin check or Check-up is due, book it; nothing has changed. If you are a doctor with data on who benefits, there is a form, and a deadline.