Social association VdK: Care reform is at the expense of relatives

The social association VdK is calling for improvements to the federal government's planned care reform. Otherwise there will be additional burdens for caring relatives: “The fact that the federal government is making access to services more difficult is catastrophic,” said VdK President Verena Bentele to the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. “Caregivers need simplification and more support, not less,” she added. "You shouldn't have to care for people to the point of exhaustion so that the financial hole in their long-term care insurance can be filled in makeshift ways."

To prevent this, the VdK is calling for the repayment of 5.2 billion euros in “Corona debt” to the nursing care insurance. Behind this are additional services that the nursing care insurance companies provided during the pandemic and which were never compensated for by the federal government.

The planned reorganization of budgets will make it more difficult for many people to access tailor-made support offers, Bentele continued. They would now have to change their functioning care situation and were reaching their limits.

The planned care reform is intended to stabilize contributions for long-term care insurance. For this purpose, various services should be bundled and put together in common pots. The VdK boss is convinced that the schematic division leads to negative consequences, and not just for those in need of care themselves. "With the rigid division into four pots, the federal government accepts that those in need of care will have to pay more services out of their own pocket because the appropriate budget has been exhausted."

“Not everyone in need of care can be cared for by a neighbor if the budget for the care service has been used up,” explained Bentele. "And the other way around, not everyone in need of care needs an expensive care service - but may be forced to do so because the budget for the neighbor has been used up."

In addition, the social association is calling for a uniform nursing care insurance that all citizens pay into. “Instead of trying to save money by giving those in need of care less benefits, the federal government should ensure that the long-term care insurance has sufficient funds available,” said Bentele: “We need a new attempt to clarify the financing of care.”