Andreas Storm, the CEO of DAK-Gesundheit, sharply criticized the plans proposed by Federal Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) for a care reform. Speaking to “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” Storm stated that the recently revealed suggestions for the care reform would drastically worsen the issue of rapidly increasing nursing home costs.
He complained that instead of easing the burden of personal contributions for residents, as previously announced, the proposed changes would involve massive cuts to benefits. Storm estimated that, according to initial DAK-Gesundheit assessments, the social assistance rate in residential care, currently 37 percent, would rise above 40 percent by 2029 at the latest, and could even reach 50 percent in the coming decade.
According to him, this would effectively turn nursing homes into permanent poverty traps for an increasing number of people. Storm argued that, unlike the reform proposals from the statutory health insurance, these cost-cutting measures for care would impact the contributors and those requiring care almost exclusively. Consequently, the head of the cash register asserted that such a reform “cannot find acceptance”.