Das Gesundheitswesen
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This article concerns the rules and regulations governing the Federal German compulsory (statutory) health insurance which, among other ordinances, define the tasks of a so-called "Medical Service of the Statutory Health Insurance". The definitions given under the heading "Expertizing and Consultation" create a field of tension between the activities of advising the insured patient on the one hand and giving an expert opinion to the insurance body on the other, both functions being exercised by one and the same doctor. ⋯ These case reports show that there is no contradiction between consulting and expertizing: the results of expertizing can be conveyed to the patient in a comprehensible manner only by advising the patient accordingly. The expertizing doctor is no longer anonymous when he gives advice to the patient, and this is a challenge--in respect of competence, human understanding, and ability to face and resolve conflicts.