SPD Health Minister Lauterbach warns of increasing personal contributions to care. The traffic light coalition partner FDP emphasizes private responsibility.
Berlin – More and more people in Germany are worried about the future of care. The main concern is that the personal contribution to care costs is constantly increasing. Many people are asking themselves: What is the point of compulsory insurance, for which we all pay throughout our lives, if I cannot rely on being well cared for in old age?
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) warns of a massive increase in personal contributions to care if the financing is not fundamentally reformed. “If we do nothing about it, in a few years we will have personal contributions of 4000 euros per month“, Lauterbach told the newspapers of the Funke Media Group from Thursday (15 August).
FDP sees responsibility for care in private insurance – not in compulsory state insurance
Many older people are already afraid of having to go into a nursing home because the personal contribution currently ranges between 2,600 and 3,300 euros, depending on the state, Lauterbach said. It should not be the case that People of retirement age are worried whether the money is enough for care. “That is undignified,” said the SPD politician. However, it is not possible to maintain care at the current level without spending more money, warned Lauterbach, according to information from the afpHe will make a proposal on this after the summer break.
As is often the case with social issues, the social democratic health minister is facing opposition from his traffic light coalition partner, the FDP. In contrast to the SPD and the Greens, but also nursing researchers such as Heinz Rothgang from the University of Bremen, the liberal FDP sees the responsibility more with individuals than with the welfare state. “It is also about people securing additional private insurance,” says FDP Bundestag member Kristine Lütke, countering the care financing concerns to the Daily news.
Patient advocates warn of increasing personal contributions from those in need of care
From the side of associations and insurance companies massive doubts about the strategy of shifting the problems of care onto private purses“Since 2017, the personal contributions of nursing home residents have increased by an average of 65 percent, and it is high time that politicians take action against this,” said the spokesman for the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV), Florian Lanz, to the news agency afpHe called on the federal states in particular to fulfil their duty to finance the investment costs of nursing homes. “This would be an immediate measure that would relieve each nursing home resident of an average of 485 euros per month,” said Lanz. “Today, nursing home residents have to finance the investments themselves through their own contributions,” he criticised.
Nursing care insurance: Between state obligation and private money
Long-term care insurance was introduced as an independent branch of social insurance on January 1, 1995. Comprehensive insurance is compulsory for all those with statutory and private insurance. Everyone who has statutory health insurance is automatically insured under social long-term care insurance. Those with private health insurance must take out private long-term care insurance.
The benefits of social care insurance are financed by contributions that are paid equally by employees and employers. When people in need of care receive benefits from the insurance and what benefits they are depends on the duration of the need for care, the level of care and the type of care. Does someone just need help with daily washing and shopping? Can the person orientate themselves well? Can they live at home or do they need round-the-clock care in a nursing home? Depending on the extent of the restrictions on independence and abilities, there are different levels of care, as stated on ther Website of the Federal Ministry of Healthms.
The primary goal is to ensure that people in need of care can live as independently as possible. However, social long-term care insurance often does not cover all of the costs of care. The rest is borne by those in need of care themselves, possibly by immediate family members or – in the case of financial need – by social assistance. Long-term care insurance is therefore also referred to as a “partial benefit system”.
Patient advocates also called on the federal and state governments to take countermeasures at the beginning of July. Personal contribution for pure care must be cappedwarned Eugen Brysch, chairman of the German Foundation for Patient Protection. In addition, the nursing allowance for the care of those in need of care by relatives must be increased and made more dynamic. “If the traffic light coalition does not succeed in doing this, nursing care insurance will remain a patchwork solution.” (lm/afp)
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