Lauterbach sees “explosive” increase in the number of people in need of care

According to Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD), the number of people in need of care in Germany is rising unexpectedly quickly.

“Demographically, only an increase of around 50,000 people would have been expected in 2023. But in reality, the Plus over 360,000Lauterbach told the “RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland” and added: “We do not yet fully understand why this is the case.” He speaks of an “acute problem in nursing care insurance.”

According to the minister, a catch-up effect in the application for care levels following the corona pandemic does not explain the increase of this magnitude.

Thanks to advances in medicine, the group of people who require care at a young age has grown.

Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD)

Lauterbach believes that the cause of the “explosive” increase is a “sandwich effect”: “In addition to the very old people in need of care, there are the first baby boomers who are now also in need of care,” he said. For the first time, two generations are dependent on care at the same time are: the baby boomers and their parents.

There are a number of illnesses that people would not have survived for long in the past. “Thanks to the advances in medicine, the group of people who need care at a young age has grown,” said Lauterbach. With the current contribution system alone, the Failure to maintain the level of carehe said.

Financing of care should be reformed

By the end of the month, a working group consisting of several ministries Proposals for financial reform This will “probably not result in a uniform recommendation from all those involved.” “The views of the various ministries and coalition partners are too different for that,” said Lauterbach. The working group would compare possible solutions in a neutral and fair manner – this would then be a good basis for a major reform in the next legislative period. “But then it has to happen.”

The minister suggested that social assistance for those in need of care should be transferred from the Nursing care insurance instead of social welfare offices to be paid out. “Many of those affected find it degrading to have to rely on social services at the end of their lives, during which they have worked hard,” he said.

One so-called care assistance People who cannot cover the costs of the necessary care from their own resources can apply to the social welfare office.

In order to enable these services to be financed through the nursing care insurance fund in the future, however, the tax money saved by the municipalities would have to go to the nursing care insurance, said Lauterbach. “Someone who has worked all their life and still cannot afford care in old age has a right to support and is not a welfare case,” said the SPD politician.

Deficit in the billions

According to previous scientific forecasts the number of people in need of care will increase from around five to six million within 15 yearsThe increase in the number of people in need of care is likely to vary greatly from region to region, with demographics being particularly strong in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, for example. According to forecasts from February, the Federal Statistical Office estimates that there will be a shortage of between 280,000 and 690,000 nursing staff nationwide by 2049.

Last July, the coalition decided to increase contributions for childless people to 4 percent and for those with one child to 3.4 percent. At the beginning of May, the company health insurance funds raised the alarm with projections that this year would see a Long-term care insurance deficit of one billion euros and 4.4 billion by 2025.

The social affairs director of Diakonie Deutschland, Maria Loheide, warned on the day of the nurses in May: “If the money from the nursing insurance is no longer sufficient, the Care for people in need of care at risk.” Today, health insurance companies and local authorities often ignore rising personnel costs due to wage increases, Loheide told the German Press Agency.

Wage compensation for relatives demanded

Bavaria’s CSU parliamentary group leader and former health minister Klaus Holetschek said: “The planned major form of care in the next legislative period comes far too late.” Holetschek called for a wage replacement benefit similar to parental allowance for caring relatives.

The relatives have long been considered “the largest nursing service in Germany”. But many families are mentally, physically and financially exhausted, warned the German Foundation for Patient Protection a few days ago. “So that the federal government can provide immediate help, the nursing allowance must be increased immediately and across the board by 300 euros,” demanded board member Eugen Brysch.

Nursing staff missing

According to a survey conducted by the Evangelical Association for Senior Care and Nursing in February, four out of five nursing facilities have to limit their services due to a lack of staff. Nine out of ten outpatient services turned down new customers in 2023. The Federal Employment Agency in Nuremberg ranks nursing staff first nationwide among all professional groups with a shortage. Almost 1.7 million nursing staff in medical, geriatric and pediatric nursing were employed in regular jobs in 2023 – 10,000 more employees than in the previous year. 82 percent of all nursing staff are women. Of these 1.39 million women, just over half work part-time.

Meanwhile, care in a nursing home is becoming increasingly expensive. Despite relief supplements, co-payments for those in need of care have recently continued to rise. As of January 1, the national average out-of-pocket costs for the first year in a nursing home were 2,576 euros per month – 165 euros more than at the beginning of 2023.

Lauterbach had already made it clear that he sees the pure contribution-based financing of nursing care insurance coming to an end. In the long term, there will be no avoiding tax revenue for this, he said in April at the geriatric care trade fair in Essen. (dpa/epd)