CSU group leader Klaus Holetschek has warned the federal government against policies during the upcoming care reform that unfairly burden those requiring assistance. In a guest article for the Nachrichtenmagazin “Focus” he stated that instituting “a reform that erodes the core of our welfare state is not modernization, but a course in social coldness” emphasizing that caring for people should not become a “fateful question for generations”.
Holetschek specifically challenged the proposal to extend the phased subsidies designated for nursing home residents over an extended timeline. According to the former Bavarian Minister of Health, delaying the activation of higher subsidy brackets-as currently discussed, potentially awaiting periods of 18, 36, or 54 months-would save the nursing care insurance billions but would do so “at a massive expense to those who are affected”.
He cautioned that, based on various studies, such a gradual implementation of subsidies could force up to 50 percent of care-dependent people to rely on state assistance. Holetschek described this maneuver as a “classic delay tactic” asserting that “the care insurance saves money, while local communities and districts are placed under heavier burden”. For him, the issue of assistance for care must not become the new standard, calling it a matter of human dignity.