The Federal Government's Nursing Commission begins its work

FAQ Suggestions for long-term reform What the Nursing Commission should clarify As of: October 27, 2026 • 1:27 p.m

The federal government wants to make care future-proof with a major reform. A commission that began its work today is to develop proposals for this. Who is there? What are the sticking points? And when will there be results?

Almost two weeks after it was appointed by the federal government, the “Care Structure Commission” officially began its work today. The task for the expert committee: to develop proposals for a long-term reform in order to make care affordable in the future without sharply increasing contributions. The most important questions about the Commission at a glance.

The committee consists of 13 experts. The composition brings together different professional perspectives on care, health, financing and social law.

The chair will be taken over by Prof. Dr. Georg Cremer, the former Secretary General of the German Caritas Association, and Prof. Gabriele Kuhn-Zuber, President of the Catholic University of Social Affairs Berlin.

According to Health Minister Linnemann, a central SPD proposal should not be an issue there. more

The black-red federal cabinet agreed on the so-called Care Reorganization Act at the end of September. But the reform that is intended to be made possible by this law should initially help to secure the financing of long-term care insurance in the short term. The planned measures are intended to plug the insurance company's financial gap of around eight billion euros, which is expected next year.

The commission should now draw up proposals for a “major structural reform” in order to “ensure good nursing care and keep the contribution rate for social nursing care insurance stable until the years after 2030,” as Federal Health Minister Carsten Linnemann put it.

How will care change in the future? Caring relatives are following the debate with great interest. more

On the one hand, of course, it's about money. The experts should present concrete proposals for short, medium and long-term solutions to secure the financing of long-term care insurance. It's not just about the amount of contributions, but also about how benefits can be designed more precisely. In addition, the committee should examine how the expenditure of social long-term care insurance and private compulsory long-term care insurance is developing and which services are causing expenditure to rise particularly sharply.

But the commission's work should go beyond the question of financial viability. Their members should also discuss how prevention measures could be strengthened. Home care should also be strengthened. This includes, among other things, the compatibility of care and work as well as the special needs of young people in need of care and people with disabilities.

The SPD in particular had recently announced improvements in the area of ​​care despite the joint resolution with the Union on the Care Reorganization Act. Above all, it pushes for a social balance between statutory and private long-term care insurance and for a limit on the personal contributions to be paid by those in need of care or their relatives. The SPD had proposed a so-called care cap for this, but this was blocked by the CDU. The commission should now examine whether and how the own contributions can be limited. Models for social compensation mechanisms within and outside of the two nursing care insurance systems should also be examined.

The federal government has agreed on the establishment of the care structure commission. more

The expert committee doesn't have much time left. The Commission should present its proposals by the end of January 2027 at the latest. The aim of the black-red coalition is to get the comprehensive care reform based on these proposals underway as quickly as possible so that it can come into force on July 1, 2027.

After it became known who would sit on the commission, criticism was voiced from several nursing associations. The reason: From the perspective of the associations, active care is not sufficiently represented in the committee, as ARD correspondent Katrin Aue reports. For example, the Mittelbaden nursing alliance had denounced that the commission consisted of economists and lawyers. The German Nursing Council “as the professional political representation of nursing” has not even been asked to work on the commission.

At the start of the commission's work, Federal Health Minister Linnemann countered this criticism by saying that the committee would also question those affected, service providers such as nursing services and representatives of municipalities in three hearings planned so far. The municipalities in particular “hardly have any room to breathe when it comes to financial resources,” emphasized the CDU politician. He left it open exactly when the hearings should take place.

This topic in the program: BR24 Radio | News | Oct 27, 2026 | 07:09 Uhrtagesschau.de | Federal Government Nursing Commission begins work | Oct 27, 2026 | 8:44 a.m