German Coalition Clears Crucial Healthcare, Budget Packages (1)

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s cabinet approved a healthcare overhaul and a multi-year budget blueprint, laying the groundwork for a push to revive Germany’s economic growth.

The packages were cleared on Wednesday, the chancellery said. The draft legislation will now be debated and negotiated in the lower house of parliament, or Bundestag, before they’re finalized.

“This is an example for all the big reforms that we still want to achieve in this coalition,” Merz told reporters in Berlin, saying that the health package was long overdue.

The ruling coalition has pledged to take on a sweeping reform agenda but has struggled ...