Cabinet approves care reform draft - coalition breathes a sigh of relief, solution remains unavailable

What the cabinet decided on Wednesday is at least as much a relief for the coalition as it is for long-term care insurance. Because the government alliance is as threatened by insolvency as the care system. The CDU/CSU and SPD have now agreed on a draft that is not far from Nina Warken's proposals, but far from a care reform in the sense of a permanent solution.

Both sides can live well with this for the time being: the CDU because its new Health Minister Carsten Linnemann has saved the severely underfunded long-term care insurance for the time being; the SPD because their proposals, which have already raised doubts about an agreement, are far from being off the table.

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Linnemann had already dampened expectations by pointing to the commission, which, like the pension commission, is supposed to design the big project. The small proposal that has now been decided therefore does not contain any cap on the personal contribution and no financial equalization between statutory and private nursing care insurance. The nursing commission is now likely to be given both.

Now a commission follows

The cabinet has reversed the deletion of pension points for caring relatives, the “silent heroes” of society, as Linnemann called them. However, childless contributors are burdened more. Both can be well represented; after all, it is hard to see why the state should take over what the family can achieve if it does not also suffer disadvantages in return.

The time extension of the performance bonuses, as planned by Warken, will no longer apply for the time being. This will not only please those in need of care, but also the municipalities who had to fear that the costs of care would be passed on to the social welfare offices. That would also have been nice proof that the recently reached agreement with the federal government that whoever orders has to pay is not working.

As with health insurance, a surcharge is now also charged for care for spouses who are co-insured without paying contributions. Similar to health insurance, the contribution assessment limit will also be raised, although not quite as drastically as Warken planned. One puts a strain on all classes, the other on the “high earners”, who are already disappointed with the CDU. If she wants to know why voters are running away from her, then she'll find it here.

The shock comes when you look at the pay slip. And that's not the end yet. Because this coalition simply cannot do its job.