As Health Minister Nina Warken prepares to present her proposals for reforming the social long-term care insurance, coalition partners and professional advocacy groups have voiced significant criticism regarding the existing plans.
Christos Pantazis, the SPD’s parliamentary spokesperson for health policy, questioned whether the reforms would adequately stabilize the system’s financing in the long term, stating that ministers cannot confine their discussions to merely efficiency and cost savings. Pantazis also strongly reiterated the SPD’s call for a unified “citizen’s insurance” for care. He argued that the systemic differences in risk between the social and private care insurances cannot be ignored. According to Pantazis, while the social care insurance covers the majority of older, multi-morbide, and costly insured individuals, the private mandatory care insurance structure benefits from a comparatively more favorable and income-strong risk pool. He maintained that the debate must be honest about this disparity, clarifying that the aim is not to pit statutorily versus privately insured individuals against one another, but rather to ensure the stability of the entire care system and achieve equitable burden sharing for a shared life risk, emphasizing the principle of equal care services, shared risk, and fair contribution.
Minister Warken plans to submit a draft law for the care reform by mid-May. However, her proposals carry warnings of increased financial burdens for care-dependent individuals in nursing homes and a general curtailing of access to care services. Among the key aspects Warken announced was a return to scientific recommendations for assigning care grades 1 through 3, developed prior to their introduction. She also pointed to a projected deficit for the care insurance in 2027 and 2028, estimating the shortfall at a total of 22.5 billion euros, which would be higher than initially anticipated.
Beyond the governmental plans, the German Association of Old and Disabled People (VDAB) highlighted the crucial need for structural reform. Following the Day of Care this week, VDAB Managing Director Thomas Knieling stressed that given rising care demands and limited resources, quick and reliable political decisions are necessary. He affirmed that the pending reforms must lead to essential structural changes in professional care. Knieling insisted that the economic foundation of professional care facilities must be sustainable, noting that comprehensive and future-proof care can only be guaranteed by robust care organizations.
The German Professional Federation for Nursing Professions (DBfK) also appealed directly to the federal government. DBfK President Vera Lux warned that care policy must not become a mere variable for short-term austerity measures, warning this applies equally to the reform of statutory health insurance and long-term care. Lux criticized any effort to cap the care budget, weaken benefits, or treat care personnel costs solely as cost drivers, arguing such policies endanger both care security and patient protection. From the DBfK’s perspective, necessary measures include mandated staffing levels, improved working conditions, strengthening care education, expanding the powers of care professionals, and genuinely including the nursing sector in every stage of reform. She concluded by demanding that the “Day of Caregivers” cannot remain a ritualistic day of thanks, but must instead become a binding political mandate.