The minimum personal contribution required from residents residing in nursing homes, known as the facility-unit-based contribution (EEE), is reported to be only slightly lower than the average pension payment received by retirees. This information stems from a response by the Federal Ministry of Health to an inquiry filed by the Left parliamentary group, which was reported by the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland”. According to these figures, the EEE was 920 euros in 2024, while the pension payment amount for the same year was 1,154 euros. The response also indicated that the EEE is projected to increase further, reaching 1,028 euros in 2025 and 1,104 euros in 2026. However, the actual personal contribution necessary for a nursing home spot-the amount the care-dependent person must cover-is considerably higher, reaching an average of 3,245 euros per month recently.
Despite this, the Ministry of Health stated in its response that “a low retirement pension from the statutory pension insurance cannot generally be assumed to equate to a low living income, as other sources of retirement income and the household context are not considered. Especially with low pensions, there are often claims on other security systems that are not contained within the statistics of the German Pension Insurance”.
Evelyn Schötz, the spokesperson for the Left parliamentary group in the Bundestag for care and mental health, told the RND, “The need for care consumes the pension-and empties every savings book in a very short time. People are undeservedly pushed into poverty”. She criticized the government for not addressing the problem decisively, instead employing what she called “sleight-of-hand tricks” to make the numbers look favorable. Schötz concluded by asserting that the solution is obvious: “The personal contributions must decrease by having the costs of care fully covered by a comprehensive care insurance. This is financially feasible by removing the contribution cap for the wealthy, incorporating rents and yields, and having everyone pay in-including Members of the Bundestag and civil servants”.