Saar-SPD is planning care cost caps and hospital reform

The Saar SPD wants to relieve those in need of care with a cost cap and reorganize health care in the state. After a joint meeting between the state executive board and the state parliamentary group in Tholey, Prime Minister and SPD state leader Anke Rehlinger called for reforms that go beyond benefit cuts. “Reforms must not just be lists of cuts. In the end, you also have to improve people’s lives,” said Rehlinger.

The core of the 15-point plan is a care cost cap of 1,500 euros for the care-related personal contributions in fully inpatient care. In a first step, according to the SPD's calculations, those in need of care should be relieved of 350 euros per month in the first year. If the current performance surcharges were also applied to the cap, the relief could increase to around 575 euros per month in the first year.

To finance this, the SPD proposes, among other things, to raise the contribution assessment limit for long-term care insurance and to introduce a solidarity balance between private and social long-term care insurance. The proposals initially did not burden the federal or state budget, said Rehlinger. An income-dependent design of the cap is also conceivable. “Care costs have to go down, not up,” she said.

Another focus of the conference was the shortage of skilled workers. The Saar SPD wants to recruit 4,000 additional nursing staff by 2030. According to Rehlinger, there have already been more than 1,000 additional employees in nursing professions since 2022. She rejects limiting wage growth. Collectively agreed increases would have to be fully refinanced. “Complete refinancing must remain,” said Rehlinger. The 15-point paper names training, qualification and international skilled worker recruitment as further building blocks.

Reorganization of hospitals

The hospital landscape should also be further reorganized. The plan is to provide basic and emergency care close to home, which will be linked to specialized centers and high-performance medicine. Duplicate structures that are not medically or economically necessary should be dismantled. Rehlinger said that sticking to the status quo endangers supply more than targeted changes.

When it comes to outpatient care, the party reiterated its demand for a guarantee of specialist appointments. The rural doctor quota has also been expanded by almost 40 percent and expanded to include pediatric and adolescent medicine as well as dentistry, said Rehlinger. The SPD is also calling for more medical study places nationwide.

At the meeting, SPD parliamentary group leader Ulrich Commerçon also took stock of the previous period in government. The Saarlanders would have given the SPD a big leap of faith in 2022. “We turned this into concrete policy and implemented key promises step by step,” said Commerçon. As examples, he cited the planned complete exemption from contributions for daycare centers from 2027, investments in the transformation of the steel industry and the expansion of social housing.