Removal of the federal subsidy for long-term care insurance by 2027 is a nasty surprise
14.08.2023 15:29
The current draft bill for the budget financing law for the 2024 federal budget provides for the federal subsidy for social long-term care insurance to be canceled by 2027 in order to plug the financial holes in the state budget. To compensate, the contribution-financed funds for the long-term care provision fund will be reduced accordingly until 2027. This is commented on by the CEO of the AOK Federal Association, Dr. Carola Reimann, as follows:
“The federal government is shirking its financial responsibility for social long-term care insurance. Instead of adequately meeting its financing obligations, the traffic light coalition wants to completely cancel the already low federal subsidy for long-term care insurance of one billion euros annually in order to reduce government spending and comply with the debt brake. Contribution money from insured persons and employers, which should actually flow into the long-term care provision fund in order to relieve the burden on those paying contributions from 2030, is thus indirectly used to restructure the federal budget.
It is a nasty surprise that the cancellation of the subsidy will now apply not only to 2024, but even up to and including 2027. The structural deficit in long-term care insurance, which will arise again in 2025, should be covered solely by those paying contributions. It is largely caused by non-insurance benefits that nursing care insurance covers for the state.
This irresponsible and short-sighted policy will significantly weaken the financial stability of the social care insurance. The current course of the traffic light is a breach of the coalition agreement and the promise to finance the SPV stably in the long term. The problems are deliberately postponed until the next legislature. It is already clear today that the proposals for long-term financing of long-term care insurance announced by Minister Lauterbach for May 2024 can only be symbolic policy. Instead of the further tax subsidies agreed in the coalition agreement to refinance the pension contributions of caring relatives or for the pandemic-related additional costs of long-term care insurance, no tax money will now flow for several years.
Solidarity and permanently reliably financed long-term care insurance makes a significant contribution to social justice in our country. It is an important anchor of stability for our society, especially in times of crisis. This is being put at risk with current policies.”