Linnemann announces improvements to the nursing care reform

Federal Health Minister Carsten Linnemann defended the plans to stabilize long-term care insurance in the Bundestag - and at the same time announced corrections. “We want to improve the law,” said the CDU politician at the first discussion of the law. “The so-called Care Reorganization Act, which we are discussing today, provides first aid.”

According to Linnemann, without the law, statutory nursing care insurance would "run into a deficit of around eight billion euros" next year. The result is even higher insurance premiums. “And we are preventing that today with the law,” said the minister in the sometimes emotional debate.

The draft law, which is intended to keep nursing care insurance contributions stable for the time being, provides, among other things, to increase the premium surcharge for childless people by 0.3 percent and to increase the contribution assessment limit by 300 euros. The contribution assessment limit is the maximum gross salary limit up to which insured persons pay contributions to nursing care and health insurance.

From 2028, free co-insurance for spouses is to be restricted. It should remain for children, parents of children under twelve and of children with disabilities, for people with relatives in need of care and of normal retirement age.

The previous relief amount should be eliminated for care level 1 and transferred to a so-called social space budget for all others. It should only be used for support in everyday life, not for outpatient care services. The existing preventive care for caring relatives is to be eliminated as an independent service. Instead, a - smaller - bridging budget is intended for emergencies.

“When the five levels of care were introduced around ten years ago, it was assumed that there would be around 3.5 million people in need of care in 2030,” said Linnemann in the Bundestag. But the forecasts were wrong: the number of people receiving care services has now doubled to more than six million people.

And according to the minister, the costs continue to rise. “If we want to preserve our care system, we have to break this cost spiral,” said Linnemann.

MPs from the coalition and opposition focused primarily on the situation of caring relatives. Linnemann said he also knew from his own family that the issue concerns everyone. “Care goes to the heart of our society.”

He had numerous conversations in which those in need of care and their families expressed concerns about the consequences of the reform. Many of those affected are concerned with the concrete change in services such as respite care, said Linnemann. It must be prevented that “hard breaks” occur when the law comes into force at the turn of the year. At the same time, the minister warned to stick to the planned savings volume.

The German Foundation for Patient Protection called the current draft law “the biggest deception since the existence of long-term care insurance.” In fact, the government wants to cut back on home care, such as short-term and preventive care. The conversion to care level 1 is also implausible. Parliament must urgently make corrections.

The Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband made a similar statement. The planned cuts in the relief allowance and in preventive care would have to be reversed. “Anyone who saves on home care is cutting into the branch on which the care system sits,” warned CEO Katja Kipping.