Rising Long-Term Care Costs: The Alliance for Solidarity-Based Comprehensive Long-Term Care Insurance, which includes the IG Metall union, has published the latest survey results.
A clear majority of 65 percent of the population supports expanding statutory long-term care insurance into comprehensive coverage that covers all long-term care costs. In contrast, only a small minority of 18 percent favors mandatory private supplemental insurance, which is currently the primary focus of political debate. These are the findings of a representative Forsa survey commissioned by the Alliance for Solidarity-Based Comprehensive Long-Term Care Insurance.
IG Metall’s Social Affairs Director Hans-Jürgen Urban stated: “Policymakers are in danger of taking a completely wrong turn on long-term care. On top of enormous out-of-pocket costs of 3,100 euros, employees are expected to shoulder expensive private insurance premiums on their own. Surveys and studies now repeatedly show that comprehensive long-term care insurance is not only desired by an absolute majority but is also financially viable. There is no way around a public insurance system here.”
The clear mandate from the public must serve as a wake-up call for the federal-state working group “Future Pact for Long-Term Care,” which plans to present its findings in December: Comprehensive long-term care insurance covering both outpatient and inpatient care must play a central role in all future plans!
The Alliance for a Solidarity-Based Comprehensive Long-Term Care Insurance views the survey results as confirmation of its demand and calls on the federal government to address the expansion of long-term care insurance now. A health economics report from January 2025 demonstrates that comprehensive long-term care insurance can be financed in the long term through the introduction of a universal long-term care insurance system.
Currently, people in need of long-term care must pay an average of around 3,100 euros per month out of pocket during their first year in a nursing home. Of this amount, approximately 1,600 euros goes toward nursing care alone, while the remainder consists of costs for room and board as well as capital expenditures. More than one-third of all people in need of long-term care in nursing homes rely on social assistance, and this trend is on the rise. In outpatient care, necessary care is often not sought because those affected cannot afford the costs. People in need of care are particularly at risk of poverty, as they cannot shoulder this financial burden with their average retirement income.
The survey was commissioned by the Alliance for Comprehensive Long-Term Care Insurance Based on Solidarity. The alliance includes: the Paritätischer Gesamtverband, the United Services Union ver.di, the German Trade Union Federation (DGB), the German Professional Association for Nursing Professions (DBfK), the Social Association of Germany (SoVD), the Federal Association of Municipal Senior Citizens’ and Disabled Persons’ Facilities (BKSB), the German Women’s Council, the BIVA Care Protection Association, the Workers’ Samaritan Federation, Volkssolidarität, the Workers’ Welfare Association (AWO), and IG Metall.
Learn more about the alliance and the survey results at www.solidarische-pflegevollversicherung.de.
