The costs for those in need of care and their relatives are rising and rising. Now calls are getting louder for a fundamental reform that will bring more relief for shares to be paid out of the bank.
An alliance of social organizations and trade unions is putting pressure on those in need of care in view of the ever-increasing co-payments for full insurance that covers all care costs. The general manager of the Paritätisches Gesamtverband, Ulrich Schneider, said on Thursday in Berlin that the personal contributions had now reached a level that made care a risk of poverty. It is high time that the federal government finally gave people with comprehensive long-term care insurance security.
The board member of the Verdi union, Sylvia Bühler, demanded that those in need of care and employees should no longer be played off against each other. The logic must be broken, according to which every improvement in working conditions and wages leads to higher costs for those in need of care. Manfred Stegger, chairman of the Biva care protection association, which represents the interests of those in need of care, warned: “Social assistance is not a worthy substitute for claims from your own contribution payments.” According to a survey commissioned by the alliance, many underestimate the financial burden of caregiving.
costs are increasing rapidly
The background to the demands is that long-term care insurance – unlike health insurance – only pays part of the costs for pure care. The out-of-pocket payments have been increasing for years. For residents of the home, there are also increasing costs for accommodation, food and investments in the facilities. Most recently, a nationwide average of 2548 euros per month was due in the first year at the home – 348 euros more than in mid-2022, according to an evaluation by the Association of Substitute Health Insurance Funds on July 1st.
Despite the relief surcharges introduced in 2022, burdens will continue to increase. This is also due to higher personnel expenses. Because since September 2022, all facilities have had to pay nursing staff according to tariffs or something similar in order to be able to settle accounts with the nursing care insurance companies. The relief surcharges are to increase in 2024 after a recently adopted care reform by the traffic light coalition. The personal contribution for pure care should be reduced by 15 instead of the previous 5 percent in the first year of the home, by 30 instead of 25 percent in the second year, by 50 instead of 45 percent, and from the fourth year by 75 instead of 70 percent.
Is long-term care insurance not living up to its name?
Linke boss Janine Wissler called for long-term care insurance worthy of the name. “The current model is an uncertainty about care. It increases the fear of old age because many people fear that at some point they will no longer be able to pay the rising care costs.” Contribution increases did not eliminate the chronic underfunding of care. The Association of Private Health Insurance complained that full insurance meant additional costs for the contributors, but no targeted help for poorer people in need of care. This would give “the wealthiest generation of pensioners of all time” additional benefits from the watering can, although most of them could make provisions for their own care costs on their own.
With a view to the government’s budget plans, the Allgemeine Ortskrankenkassen (AOK) criticized that with the planned cancellation of the federal subsidy for nursing care insurance up to and including 2027, the federal government’s share of the financing of nursing care costs would be set to zero. “Increasing costs are only being imposed on those who pay contributions and those in need of care,” said the head of the AOK federal association, Carola Reimann.
Private elderly care providers called for a care summit. This year, more than 450 care facilities have gone bankrupt or have had to close, according to the care employers’ association. “Many people in need of care and their relatives are desperately looking for a place in a nursing home.” The federal government must break the wave of insolvencies in the short term and ensure in the long term that everyone gets the care they deserve.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
