Reform of long-term care insurance: People are lost from view

Social care insurance has been underfunded since it was introduced in 1998. It was planned that way from the start: The idea was, on the one hand, to keep those in need of care out of social assistance and, secondly, to ensure minimal care and leave as much effort as possible to the families. This means primarily: wives, daughters, daughters-in-law. The nursing scientist Martina Hasseler called nursing care insurance accordingly: “Some woman is already doing it.”

Demographic change is part of the reason why the system is approaching bankruptcy, but so are women, who are increasingly less likely to see why they alone should bear the burden. In view of the ever-deepening billion dollar holes, various governments are tinkering with the catalog of services in order to make care affordable, i.e. cheaper. The result is a systematic undersupply of those in need of care.

Because whenever it comes to reforming long-term care insurance, health ministers - Carsten Linnemann is no exception - argue with the bare financial figures. What is never about are the needs of those being cared for; about the right to live with dignity in old age and in illness. What would be needed would be a paradigm shift, a fundamentally new approach that takes people into account. If there was the political will, this would also be possible.

The taz is an independent, left-wing and opinionated daily newspaper. We have been arguing in our comments, essays and debate texts since the taz was founded in 1979. We often cannot and do not want to agree on an opinion. That's why you'll find some completely opposing positions here - all part of the very broad left-wing spectrum of opinions.

In Denmark, for example, there is no long-term care insurance. The supply there is completely financed by taxes and is borne by the municipalities. In Denmark, caring relatives are not paid off with a few pension points, but can instead be employed by the municipality under certain conditions. But instead of a reform worthy of the name, the CDU continues with its patchwork, which it is clear will not work in the long term. The result is the gradual thinning out of decent basic care.