Eva Welskop-Deffaa, President of Caritas, has criticized the proposed nursing care reforms put forward by Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU). She specifically warned that the changes represent a “sell-out of social security regarding care risk” emphasizing that the financial burden on individuals requiring care in institutional settings must not increase.
Speaking to the “Tagesspiegel”, Welskop-Deffaa focused on the issue of costs in nursing homes. Currently, residents in these facilities must pay an average co-payment of 3,200 euros. While social care insurance provides incremental subsidies that increase with the length of stay, Warken is considering delaying the anticipated cost relief. Instead of reaching 75% of the associated care costs after 36 months, the reform would supposedly delay this benefit until 54 months. Welskop-Deffaa finds this timing impractical, arguing that the majority of clients will not remain in care institutions for such an extended period.
Furthermore, the Caritas President strongly objected to plans that propose halving pension contributions for family caregivers. She stated that unpaid family caregivers are “the backbone of care in Germany”. According to Welskop-Deffaa, it is an unacceptable social failure to reduce their future pension points-which serve as essential long-term security-simply to achieve short-term budgetary savings.