BERLIN, GERMANY — A German politician wants the government to pay for the needy to have sex with prostitutes.

The patient would need a doctor to approve the treatment and would claim the “sex prescription” as a medical expense to be reimburse by the local government, according to a proposal by Elisabeth Scharfenberg, care spokeswoman for the German Green Party.

Scharfenberg told Germany’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper that a similar policy is already in place in the Netherlands. The policy allows those with severe health issues to claim sex with prostitutes as a medical expense, Deutsche Welle reported.

Scharfenberg said patients would need a medical certificate showing they can’t achieve sexual satisfaction in other ways. They would also have to prove they can’t afford to pay for sex.

But some members of the Green Party worry that niche policy proposals like this one contribute to the perception that the party is not serious.

Green parliamentarian and Tübingen mayor Boris Palmer attacked the proposal, saying “well intentioned” ideas like these cause the public to dismiss the Greens as “unworldly oddballs.”

Prostitution is legal in Germany, where it does not carry the same stigma as in many other Western countries. Prostitutes in Germany can even visit nursing homes to service elderly residents.