Care: Next contribution increase soon?
Traffic light group without result:Care: Next contribution increase soon?
by K. Hofmann and B. Spiekermann
There is too little money in nursing care insurance. Everyone knows that, but nothing will change any time soon. A coalition working group ends today. Result: none.
The statutory health insurance companies are calling for a fundamental restructuring of nursing care insurance. Or a financial injection.
Source: dpa
Ministry of Finance blocks coalition agreement
This also means that a financial injection that had been agreed upon in the coalition agreement is off the table. In it, all three parties agreed that “non-insurance benefits such as pension contributions for caregivers and the additional costs caused by the pandemic will be financed from tax revenue.” This would have made it possible to pump up to ten billion euros into nursing care insurance in the short term in order to avoid rising contributions.
According to the Ministry of Health, the number of people in need of care has risen sharply. This is also fuelling the discussion about care reform.27.05.2024 | 1:45 min
So many people in Germany are in need of care
ZDFheute infographic
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Nursing care funds: financial injection until reform
The nursing care funds see things a little differently. In the short term, the funds can certainly be helped. On the one hand, there is around 5.5 billion euros that they believe they are still entitled to from the federal government: This is because these are additional costs due to the corona pandemic that were never compensated. “The state has not kept its promises,” says Florian Lanz, spokesman for the general association of statutory health and nursing care funds.
“I don’t see it as being as dramatic as it is being made out to be,” said social scientist Prof. Stefan Sell about the increase in nursing cases. However, “more money in the system” is needed.27.05.2024 | 6:13 min
In addition, there are the pension contributions for the caring relatives, which according to Lanz are not the responsibility of the nursing care insurance, but a responsibility of society as a whole. The finances must be “distributed fairly”. The state must fulfill its obligation, says Lanz:
The problem is that everyone is right in saying that something has to happen. We need fundamental reform. With the money, we could build a financial bridge to this reform.
Florian Lanz, spokesman for the GKV umbrella association
Has the increase in numbers been known for a long time?
Health Minister Lauterbach is sounding the alarm: There is an “explosive” increase in the number of people in need of care. Patricia Wiedemeyer reports from the capital studio.27.05.2024 | 1:02 min
This is how differently the care requirement is calculated
ZDFheute infographic
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Every year plus a city like Münster
So every year there is an additional number of people in need of care, which corresponds to a city the size of Münster. And on the other hand, according to the nursing care funds, it will cost 1.7 billion euros if the contributions to nursing care insurance are to be reduced by 0.1 contribution points.
A discussion that actually comes at just the right time for the traffic light coalition: the new budget is to be approved at the beginning of July. The three parties are already wrangling loudly and vigorously over their ideas on how to save a double-digit billion amount.
So the only way out is to increase contributions? More than the current 3.4 percent or 4 percent of gross income for those without children? It certainly looks like that. That would be a done deal for the next government.
Ethel Purdy – Medical Blogger & Pharmacist
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