Daniel Bahr (; born 4 November 1976) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as Federal Minister of Health from 2011 to 2013. His party failed to get a seat in Bundestag at the 2013 federal elections, and he started to work for Allianz insurance group. Due to his previous position as Minister of Health, his move to a private sector healthcare player has been heavily criticized by the public.

Early life and education

Bahr was born the son of a policeman in

Lahnstein Lahnstein () is a ''verband''-free town of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the Lahn with the Rhine, approximately south of Koblenz. Lahnstein was created in 1969 by the merger of the prev ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

. He graduated from Immanuel-Kant High School,

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...

, in 1996. He subsequently went on to an apprenticeship as a

bank clerk ''The Bank Clerk'' is a 1919 American short comedy film directed by and starring Fatty Arbuckle. The film is considered to be lost. Cast * Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle * Molly Malone See also * List of American films of 1919 * Fatty Arbuckle fil ...

at Dresdner Bank in

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the capital and second-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as of the region of Mecklenburg, after Rostock. It ...

and

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. In the winter of 1998 Bahr began studying economics at the

University of Münster The University of Münster (german: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of stud ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Economics. In 2008 he completed another course of study, focusing on international healthcare and hospital management, graduating with a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

(MBA).

Political career

Bahr joined the Young Liberals (the German short form is "JuLis" from Junge Liberale) at the age of 14 in 1990. Two years later he became a member of their mother party FDP. From 1994 to 1996, he was chairman of the JuLis in the district of

. In 1999, he was elected national chairman of the JuLis, an office he held until 2004. Bahr became a member of the FDP's federal executive board in 2001. He was widely regarded as the FDP's expert on health policy. In 2003, he became chairman of the party's "Zukunftsforum" (Future Forum) on "Frauen, kinderfreundliches Deutschland, Generationengerechtigkeit" ("Women, Child-friendly Germany, a Generation Fairness"). Bahr served as the chairman of the FDP in the Münsterland district in 2006, and led the party's opposition against the grand coalition's health sector reform. On 27 November 2010, he was elected at the state convention of the North Rhine-Westphalian FDP to the state chairman. In the negotiations to form a coalition government of the FDP and the Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) following the 2009 federal elections, Bahr was part of the FDP delegation in the working group on health policy, led by

Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; Albrecht, born 8 October 1958) is a German politician who has been serving as the president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding suc ...

and

Philipp Rösler Philipp Rösler (born 24 February 1973) is a German physician and former politician who served as federal minister of health from 2009–2011 and federal minister of economics and technology as well as vice-chancellor of Germany from 2011 to ...

. On 12 May 2011, Bahr was appointed by the Federal President to become the Federal Minister of Health in Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...

's second government. His predecessor, Philipp Rösler, moved on to become Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and Vice-Chancellor. On the same day his swearing-in ceremony was held in the German Bundestag. With the German care home sector facing an acute labor shortage, Bahr proposed relaxing rules for bringing in foreign care workers. In 2012, Bahr was selected a ''Young Global Leader'' by the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

. With the commencement of the Cabinet Merkel III on 17 December 2013 Bahr retired from the federal government.

Career in the private sector

From February to mid-2014, Bahr served as a health care reform advisor for the

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

Center for American Progress The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy research and advocacy organization which presents a liberal viewpoint on economic and social issues. It has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The president and chief executive offic ...

. In addition, he worked as a guest lecturer on health economics at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. On 29 September 2014, it was announced that Bahr would join the

executive board A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of Allianz Private Krankenversicherungs-AG (APKV), a health insurance provide owned by Allianz. Following the approval of the

Federal Financial Supervisory Authority The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (german: Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht, Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht) better known by its abbreviation BaFin is the financial regulatory authority for Germany. It ...

(BaFin), he has been serving on the company's executive board since 2017.

Other activities

Corporate boards

ERGO Group ERGO (ERGO Group) is a group of insurance companies owned by Munich Re. ERGO is one of the largest insurance groups in Europe. It operates in over 30 countries, especially in Europe and Asia. In Europe, ERGO claims to be number 1 in the health ...

, Member of the Advisory Board (−2009)

Non-profit organizations

* UNITE – Parliamentary Network to End HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis and Other Infectious Diseases, Member (since 2021) * DUK Versorgungswerk e.V., Member of the Advisory Board (−2009) * German Cancer Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees * Jugend gegen AIDS, Member of the Advisory Board

Controversy

In 2010, Bahr caused controversy when he—amid a dispute over the proposals of

to introduce a health premium—accused the coalition partner CSU of behaving like "wild boar" and "only destructive".

Personal life

In 2008, Bahr married lawyer Judy Witten in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. The couple has three children. In 2019, he was diagnosed with cancer.Timot Szent-Ivanyi (10 May 2019)
Ex-Gesundheitsminister Daniel Bahr an Krebs erkrankt
'' Lübecker Nachrichten''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bahr, Daniel 1976 births Living people People from Rhein-Lahn-Kreis University of Münster alumni Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Health ministers of Germany Federal government ministers of Germany Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005 Members of the Bundestag for the Free Democratic Party (Germany)