The COVID pandemic as a catalyst for the emergence of a new programmatic group in German health policy?

To what extent has the COVID pandemic served as a catalyst for the emergence of a new programmatic group in German health policy? German health policy was substantially shaped by a programmatic group between 1990 and 2011 (Hornung & Bandelow 2020). Between 2012 and 2019, the constellation of actors was fragmented and there was little discernible programmatic action (Bandelow & Hornung 2020). In the course of the COVID pandemic, the constellation of health policy actors in Germany has changed fundamentally. New expert bodies and linkages between policy actors have emerged. In terms of content, these new actor structures do not only relate directly to pandemic policy. For example, regionalization programs have emerged as an important topic (Hildebrandt et al. 2020). Based on document and discourse analyses, this paper examines the emergence of a programmatic group for the regionalization of German health policy after the COVID pandemic. In our evaluation, we use discourse analyses and analyses of actor networks that show the actor constellations before and after the pandemic. Bandelow, Nils C., & Hornung, Johanna (2020). Policy Programme Cycles Through Old and New Programmatic Groups. Journal of Public Policy, 41(4), 633-652. DOI: 10.1017/S0143814X20000185 Hildebrandt, Helmut, et al. (2020). Integrierte Versorgung als nachhaltige Regelversorgung auf regionaler Ebene. Vorschlag für eine Neuausrichtung des deutschen Gesundheitssystems. https://optimedis.de/files/Aktuelles/2020/IV-als-Regelversorgung_Vollversion.pdf (last retrieved from 2023/02/26). Hornung, Johanna, & Bandelow, Nils C. (2020). The Programmatic Elite in German Health Policy: Collective Action and Sectoral History. Public Policy and Administration, 35(3), 247-265. DOI: 10.1177/0952076718798887