Federal government's nursing reform: SPD against cuts in nursing care

dpa | According to General Secretary Tim Klüssendorf, the SPD does not want to accept any reduction in benefits when reforming nursing care insurance. There's a lot going on when it comes to care, Klüssendorf explained on Friday evening. "There is a risk of massive cuts, especially for carers, those in need of care, but also their relatives. But we won't allow that." He emphasized: “We do not accept any reduction in services in care.”

Klüssendorf left it unclear what this means in view of the cabinet decision planned for next week to financially stabilize long-term care insurance next year.

If the SPD has its way, “then we want to noticeably relieve the burden on those in need of care in the future,” said the Secretary General. He referred to the suggestion of a care cap that the Saarland SPD Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger had brought into discussion - i.e. a cap on the personal contribution to the costs of a place in a nursing home.

“We want to prevent people and their families from being financially overwhelmed by the costs of care,” said Klüssendorf. “We also want a fair and solidarity-based system into which everyone pays, or at least a fair financial balance between private and social care insurance.”

Rehlinger had advocated capping the personal contribution for those in need of care at 1,500 euros. According to an evaluation by the Association of Substitute Insurance Funds, as of July 1st, a nationwide average of 3,364 euros per month had to be paid out of one's own pocket in the first year in the home.

The black-red coalition is currently working on a reform to cover the billion-dollar long-term care insurance deficit expected for 2027 and to avoid general premium increases. Federal Health Minister Carsten Linnemann aims to bring this draft to the cabinet next week. Details are not yet known. A draft by his predecessor Nina Warken (CDU) envisages curbs on spending and additional revenue.

Linnemann is also planning a more comprehensive care reform and has announced that he will set up a commission of experts. “Our care system, as it is now organized, is not future-proof,” the CDU politician recently told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. If it is not fundamentally rebuilt, it will collapse in the 1930s, he said. Therefore, he will set up a “structural commission”. “The aim is for us to get a structural care reform in the coming year based on their suggestions.”