Nursing is becoming increasingly important in aging German society. This also drives up costs - but who should pay how much?
Berlin / Düren (dpa) - In view of the ever increasing co-payments for nursing, Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn wants to take countermeasures, especially in the case of years of stress.
"Especially those who need long-term care must be relieved," said the CDU politician to the editorial network in Germany. "We should focus on that." There are other good approaches than to fix the personal contribution for those in need of care. Coalition partner SPD, however, insists on limiting such additional payments out of its own pocket.
"I would like to make a proposal in the middle of the year as to how the future financing of care can look like," said Spahn on Monday evening in Düren in North Rhine-Westphalia. There he started a series of dialogues with a total of six events. Spahn discussed with experts, but also with the public, which was mainly made up of nursing staff. "No matter what suggestion I make, it won't say 100 percent" hooray, "he warned. The challenge is big: "We are the second oldest country in the world after Japan."
Spahn called for a broad social discussion about the introduction of a mandatory social year. The acceptance for this among young people is higher than one might think. He himself tends to say yes. In any case, he was in favor of expanding the voluntary social year.
SPD faction vice Bärbel Bas said on Monday of the German press agency: "Care should not lead to poverty." It is good that Spahn is now taking up the subject. So far, the system has been trapped. "Because rising costs lead to increasing own shares in nursing care insurance. We have to break through this dynamic." There can only be a permanent solution with a limitation of your own shares.
The background is that - unlike health insurance - long-term care insurance only bears part of the costs. In addition to the personal contribution for the pure care, there are also costs for accommodation, meals and also for investments in the facilities for residents. Overall, the national average currently amounts to almost 1900 euros per month, but there are major regional differences.
There are already numerous proposals in the financing debate - such as federal subsidies and the reduction or limitation of own shares. Higher contributions would also be possible. Rising costs also result in higher wages that the government wants to enforce in the struggle for urgently needed nursing staff. Nursing expenses are also increasing due to the aging society. According to the statutory health insurance, the number of beneficiaries grew to 3.7 million in 2018 - 10.4 percent more than in 2017. Expenditures for long-term care insurance rose by 7.6 percent to 38.2 billion euros.
Spahn told the editorial network Germany: "The nursing care-related contributions have increased significantly in the last two or three years, sometimes by several hundred euros a month." In the long run, many could not shoulder this alone. However, changes would have to be borne by the center of society. Spahn had already signaled that he was aiming for more predictability and reliability for his own shares. He rejected demands for full insurance for the entire care costs.
SPD parliamentary group leader Bas, on the other hand, emphasized: "In the long term, the further development towards full long-term care insurance is the goal." The personal contribution to the care costs could then be gradually reduced to zero. Only the costs for accommodation, meals and investments would have to be paid by those affected - just like in home care.