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Woman in a Düsseldorf nursing home: Since 2020, tax money has also been flowing into nursing care insurance
Photo:
Marcel Kusch / dpa
The number of people in need of care is increasing, as are the costs.
It's unclear who wears them.
If the statutory health and long-term care insurance funds and the large social organizations have their way, the state should be more involved in financing long-term care insurance.
You have called on the federal government to quickly compensate for the high deficits with billions in tax revenue.
The financing requirement for short-term stabilization in the current year alone is at least 4.5 billion euros, according to a letter that is available to the newspapers of the editorial network Germany (RND) based on a preliminary report.
It says: "We therefore urge you to quickly stabilize the financing of social long-term care insurance through federal funds so that the necessary securing of liquidity is not exclusively at the expense of the contributors".
The letter is addressed to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP).
It was signed by the associations of statutory health and long-term care insurance funds at federal level, several social organizations and the federal working group for non-statutory welfare.
Standard wages make care more expensive
According to the preliminary report, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD), who recently got the contributors in the mood for higher contributions, is not the addressee of the letter.
It was only sent to him for information.
The care contribution has been 3.05 percent of gross wages since 2022, and even 3.4 percent for childless people.
There has been a dispute over the financing of care for years.
In the Corona year 2020, like health insurance, long-term care insurance received a subsidy from taxpayers' money for the first time.
In 2022, a permanent federal subsidy of one billion euros per year was introduced.
Nevertheless, the statutory long-term care insurance recorded a deficit of 2.25 billion euros in 2022, according to the RND in the letter.
Another deficit of three billion euros is expected for the current year.
According to the information, the main cost drivers of long-term care insurance are the growing number of people in need of care and increasing expenses - among other things due to the statutory payment of nursing staff according to tariffs.
In addition, the federal government has not yet reimbursed the additional costs caused by the corona pandemic totaling 5.5 billion euros.
Apr/Reuters
