PRESS STATEMENT “The long-term care reform falls short of its own stated goals”

Hans-Jürgen Urban, Executive Board Member of IG Metall:

“The long-term care reform falls short of its own stated goals. The problem of exorbitantly high out-of-pocket costs remains unresolved. Many people in need of long-term care will still have to pay over 2,000 euros out of their own pockets each month. The fact that Minister Spahn believes he can make a name for himself with this law shows, above all, how out of touch he is with the reality of workers’ lives.

Instead of finally taking reliable steps toward a universal health insurance system—one in which everyone contributes to the costs of long-term care on the basis of solidarity and in which long-term care is fully covered—Minister Spahn is pitting those in need of care against caregivers and childless people against parents. This is a highly questionable approach to an issue that he himself has described as the new ‘social question.’”

Further information and press photos of Dr. Hans-Jürgen Urban