Andreas Storm, the head of the DAK Gesundheit health insurance fund, has urged the red-black coalition to halt the plans put forward by Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken (CDU) concerning pension reform in long-term care. Storm stated to the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland that all currently known proposals would lead to irreparable damage within the care insurance system. He emphasized the urgent need for a reform moratorium and stressed that a new initiative is required to develop a sustainable, socially fair, and workable reform.
Storm specifically criticized Warken’s plans to cut subsidies for the self-participation fees of residents in care homes. He warned that the proposals currently on the table would force many more people to rely on social assistance, thereby increasing poverty among those receiving stationary care.
Furthermore, these policies would place a substantial financial burden on local municipalities. Storm added that halving pension payments for care workers in outpatient care would also eventually create instances of care poverty in that sector. In total, the DAK chief criticized the changes for opening up a major financial deficit in the retirement insurance system.