You can’t go against the system! - How professionals and patients navigate healthcare access restrictions

Sep 30, 2026

Upload by Stanley

Healthcare for asylum seekers in Germany is shaped by special legislation that limits benefits to deter migration, creating bureaucratic access barriers even when simplification is possible. In two refugee clinics, ethnographic methods document application processes and outcomes to examine how patients, professionals, and administrators cope. Legal restrictions shift roles: patients must submit credible evidence and act as petitioners, while staff explain procedures, support applications, track funding, and manage denials. Implementation by street-level bureaucrats creates uncertainty, internal border-making, and uneven access.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages1

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

Aims

Methods

Results

Conclusions

2nd World Congress on Migration, Ethnicity, Race & Health Abstract Book vi93 Abstract citation ID: ckaf180.254 549 “You can’t go against the system!”How professionals and patients navigate healthcare access restrictions for asylum seekers in Germany Sandra Ziegler1 and Kayvan Bozorgmehr2 1Section for Health Equity Studies & Migration, Department General Practice and Health Services Research, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany 2Department of Population Medicine and Health Services Research, School of Public Health, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany PTH 4: Mental Health and Refugees 2, B307 (FCSH), September 4, 2025, 14:00-14:48 Aims: Healthcare for asylum seekers in Germany is governed by a special legislation designed to deter migration through benefits-based restrictions. Access can be simplified, but many federal states oppose easing procedures, maintaining bureaucratic hurdles where many services must be requested case-by-case from local authorities. We aimed to understand how affected actors cope with these restrictions. Methods: We conducted a three-month ethnographic exploration in two refugee clinics, documented 110 cost coverage applications and their outcomes, compiled 40 free-lists, and interviewed 41 professionals (healthcare, interpretation, social work, administration) and 26 severely or chronically ill asylum seekers. Results: The analysis shows that legal restrictions impose new roles on actors: for example, patients must provide credible evidence of their need and become petitioners for medical care. Health and social work personnel must familiarize themselves with restrictions, explain access procedures, assist with applications, track funding issues, and often inform patients when services are denied. Administrators without medical expertise and clear guidelines must decide on requests, communicate, and enforce decisions. Actors respond on reflective, affective, attitudinal, and behavioral levels. We will elaborate on their reactions ranging from resignation and over-adaptation to cautious questioning, enabling strategies for access and sometimes resistance. Conclusions: The law’s implementation by street-level bureaucrats has many side effects. All actors face uncertainty. Patients often lack awareness of their rights; their care depends heavily on advocates’goodwill. Professionals display both supportive behaviors and restrictive interpretations influenced by deservingness ascriptions that may include evaluations of flight motives and asylum prospects. Medical care for asylum seekers has become a site of internal border-making, risking professionals becoming enforcers of restrictive migration policies. To allow care staff to focus on the needs of those seeking protection and ensure equal access, we must advocate for the abolition of the special legislation – especially as restrictions have recently been tightened.

FAQs

What is the main aim of the study about healthcare access for asylum seekers in Germany?

The study aims to understand how affected actors cope with healthcare access restrictions created by special legislation and opposed easing in federal states.

How was the research conducted?

Researchers performed a three-month ethnographic exploration in two refugee clinics, documenting 110 cost coverage applications, compiling 40 free-lists, and interviewing professionals and severely or chronically ill asylum seekers.

What role changes do legal restrictions impose on patients and professionals?

Patients must provide credible evidence and become petitioners for care. Professionals must learn restriction details, explain access procedures, assist with applications, track funding issues, and often inform patients when services are denied.

Sep 30, 2026

Upload by Stanley