Berlin. The federal government is running out of time when it comes to long-term care insurance. Even before the planned care reform is implemented, it will have to support the financially struggling insurance company with additional money. The billions in aid already promised is obviously not enough.
The Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) therefore wants to provide up to an additional 700 million euros as a loan this year, which emerges from a letter from the Federal Ministry of Finance to the Budget Committee and is dated October 1st. The Handelsblatt has the letter.
This makes the scenario that Federal Health Minister Carsten Linnemann (CDU) warned about just a few days ago more realistic. In the government survey on September 23rd, he admitted that despite an interest-free loan worth billions of euros worth a good 3.2 billion euros, a few hundred million euros could still be missing. In this case, according to Linnemann, the government would have to go into the budget again.
Apparently that moment has now been reached. According to the letter, the reason why the billion dollar loan is not enough for this year is that expenses have increased significantly faster than expected. Above all, the rapidly increasing number of people in need of care is responsible for this. According to the letter, the so-called long-term care insurance compensation fund, which is used to compensate for financial differences between the individual long-term care funds, could already lack the money necessary for ongoing financial equalization in November.
And the BMF then describes the associated consequences drastically. Without additional money, there was a risk of “payment delays” and, in the worst case, non-performance. Those in need of care could receive cash benefits late or not at all. Pension contributions that nursing care funds pay for family members who care for their loved ones could also be missing. This scenario has not yet occurred, the proposal states, and the additional federal funding could prevent it.
Such a bottleneck was actually intended to be prevented with the 3.2 billion euros. The original plan called for four tranches of 800 million euros each, spread over the year. But now this money was needed faster than planned. Already in August and September, funds had to be used in advance that were actually earmarked for the fourth quarter. A total of 278 million euros were called up early, according to the letter.
The BMF refers to a current forecast from the Federal Office for Social Security, which monitors the financial development of social insurance. Accordingly, the last tranche should still be sufficient for October. After that it will probably be tight. The Federal Office expects a funding gap of over 370 million euros for November. And even this number is based on uncertain foundations.
The BMF therefore expects a possible deviation of a good 300 million euros per month. The federal government must therefore not only close the foreseeable November gap, but also have to maintain a reserve in the event that the financial situation turns out to be even worse.
This may be why the Federal Ministry of Health wanted to take more precautions. Linnemann's house had requested additional funds of up to 870 million euros, as the letter shows. But this went too far for the Ministry of Finance. According to his calculations, up to 700 million euros should be enough to cover the expected needs and possible risks.
Another detail shows how tight the calculations are now: not even October is considered completely safe. According to the current forecast, the existing funds are likely to be sufficient. However, due to the considerable fluctuations, the BMF does not rule out the possibility that additional money will be needed sooner. In particular, the coming financial equalization of nursing care insurance must be guaranteed. The federal government cannot therefore wait for the next regular budget.
For the federal government, the financially strained situation of long-term care insurance is likely to reach a new dimension. The 3.2 billion euros were already an extraordinary support for a system whose expenses are rising faster than its income.
However, the Finance Ministry needs the approval of the Budget Committee for the additional up to 700 million euros. After all, it is an over-planned expenditure - i.e. money that is needed in excess of the previously approved budget.
The nursing care insurance also has to repay these millions between 2035 and 2039. This increases the pressure considerably for the planned care reform. The federal government now has to solve two problems at the same time: it has to keep its coffers solvent in the short term and at the same time stabilize a system in which even billions in bridging aid are used up faster than expected.
