The federal government sets up a nursing commission – these are its tasks

"The costs are getting out of hand - and at the same time, people too often don't get exactly the care they need," explained Federal Health Minister Carsten Linnemann (CDU). The coalition must therefore ensure that care remains affordable and reaches where it is needed. According to the Ministry of Health, the goal is to “ensure good nursing care and keep the contribution rate for social nursing care insurance stable until after 2030.”

The commission has the following major tasks: It is supposed to analyze the expenditure of social long-term care insurance and recommend measures for sustainable and needs-based financing. It should also develop suggestions for more efficient and better care provision and think about how prevention and early rehabilitation can be used more extensively.

Focus on home care

Linnemann places one focus on strengthening home care. “It is particularly important to me to focus on those who take responsibility for relatives at home every day,” said Linnemann. The commission only has an examination order on the subject of care caps: a limit on the personal contributions for the stay in a nursing home should be “examined,” according to the cabinet proposal. This was demanded by the SPD, among others.

Linnemann recalled “first aid measures for care,” which had already received the green light in the cabinet in September. The decision in the ministerial group around Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) was preceded by nightly negotiations until shortly before the cabinet appointment.

According to the nursing care insurance funds, long-term care insurance quickly needs billions of dollars to stabilize finances. The first aid package is, among other things, planned to increase the contribution rates for childless people by 0.3 percentage points as of January 1, 2027.