German Patient Protection Foundation welcomes SPD push against cuts in care

The German Foundation for Patient Protection welcomes the SPD's new push against cuts in care. "It's good that the SPD is now pulling the ripcord on the planned care legislation," said board member Eugen Brysch of the Catholic News Agency (KNA). Future-proof and generation-appropriate financing must create predictability: "Here, the personal contribution for pure care must be capped and the insurance subsidies for those in need of help at home must be adjusted in parallel with the cost development."

But the initiative will only be credible if SPD leader and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil follows up with concrete action, said Brysch. Among other things, the minister must repay the Corona loans amounting to 5.5 billion euros and take over the pension insurance benefits for caring relatives, which have increased to over 5 billion euros. But the federal states also have a duty: “They finally have to cover the training and investment costs. This immediately reduces the burden on residents of the home by 700 euros per month.”

In addition, a merger of private and statutory nursing care insurance is possible in accordance with the constitution, Brysch added: “All measures together will give social care a breath of fresh air for the next 15 years. Time enough to set up a care fund similar to the planned pension reform.

SPD General Secretary Tim Klüssendorf posted on Instagram on Friday evening that his party does not accept “any service cuts on the backs of the people” when it comes to care. This could block the cabinet decision on care reform planned for Wednesday.

Care should not become a financial risk for those in need of care and their families, said the politician in his video. Those who care for relatives do “incredibly valuable work for our society” under great pressure and deserve more support and recognition. There must therefore be a real structural reform with more solidarity, more relief and permanently stable financing.

To this end, the SPD is proposing a care cap, i.e. a limit on the personal contribution to the costs of a place in a nursing home, added 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."