Düsseldorf drastically cuts aid for undocumented refugees – Medinetz warns of rejections and untreated emergencies

Ahead of the budget consultations in the Düsseldorf city council, pressure is mounting on a local aid program for people without health insurance. The planned cut to STAY! Medinetz affects not just a single funding item, but a supply structure built up over years, consisting of a clearing office, staff, and an emergency fund from which acute treatments are paid.

The city of Düsseldorf wants to reduce the funds for STAY! Medinetz in the 2026 budget from a total of 215,000 euros to 160,000 euros. The city council will discuss the draft on Thursday, March 19. According to STAY!, both the emergency fund for treatments, medications, and operations as well as the staffing of the clearing office for people without regular health insurance coverage would be affected.

What exactly is to be cut in the budget

So far, the city has provided 120,000 euros for the emergency fund. In addition, there were 95,000 euros for staff of the clearing office and overhead costs. In the 2026 budget draft, the total amount thus drops by about a third to 160,000 euros.

STAY! expects that this gap would have an immediate impact on care: If fewer funds are available in the fund, cases would have to be prioritized or rejected more often; planned interventions could also fail more frequently because clinics require secured financing before treatment. The team describes a current example of a patient with glaucoma, where an operation to prevent impending blindness could depend on a prior signed cost coverage agreement.

So it's not just about accounting items, but about practical ability to act in acute situations. In practice, the emergency fund finances the bridge between medical necessity and lack of coverage – this is exactly where the cut would most quickly narrow the scope for action.

Why the clearing office is central for those affected

STAY! was founded in 2009 and supports refugees through counseling and medical assistance. In the early years, this work was mainly done on a voluntary basis. Since 2015, there has been an institutionally anchored clearing office and an emergency fund in Düsseldorf, which are intended to structure and speed up access to medical care.

The clearing office is especially central for those affected because people without papers or without clarified residency status often avoid contact with the regular health system. A key reason is the fear of being reported to authorities. Legally, the situation is complex: Section 87 of the Residence Act regulates the reporting obligations of public authorities to immigration authorities in certain situations. Even if these regulations do not automatically make every treatment a reportable event, the uncertainty shapes the reality of many affected people – with the result that illnesses are often treated late or only in emergencies.

For people who have lived in Düsseldorf for years, with work, housing, and a social environment, but without reliable social and legal security, this becomes a risk, especially with chronic illnesses, acute infections, or during pregnancies. When Düsseldorf expanded the clearing office and emergency fund in 2015, this was seen in reports as a pioneering role – in some cases even as the first institutional anchoring of such care nationwide. The core of the idea at the time: a low-threshold, as anonymous as possible point of contact that organizes medical help and at the same time checks ways into regular care.

With the planned cut, STAY! believes that this very stability is under pressure. In addition to the aid for patients, this also affects the continuity of the work: If staff positions in the clearing office can no longer be reliably financed, waiting times increase, case processing slows down – and care becomes more fragile, especially for complex cases.

Political pressure is mounting ahead of the council's decision

STAY! criticizes that the cut comes as a surprise and without sufficient warning. Representatives of the CDU-Green coalition counter that discussions about grants and savings are part of the annual budget rounds. At a joint press conference of the CDU and Greens on March 11, Mirja Cordes (Alliance 90/The Greens) said in essence that organizations could have assessed the situation early on; at the same time, the coalition pointed out that the budget situation could become even more difficult in 2027 and further savings options are being examined.

Politically, the decisive factor is the council's decision on the budget: Only with the resolution will it be clear whether the cut will come in this form. For those affected and for the supply structure of STAY!, the question is already existential in advance, because medical help cannot be postponed at will. The conflict boils down to a practical consequence: Whether Düsseldorf will maintain the institutionally supported care for people without health insurance, built up in 2015, with the same reliability – or whether help will increasingly fail due to lack of funding.