Press Statement Future Pact for Long-Term Care: “New and solidarity-based approaches were missed”

“This was not the breakthrough we were hoping for. Unfortunately, the working group failed to chart new and truly solidarity-based paths. With the proposals presented, care will remain a private financial burden and a risk of poverty for many.

Therefore, it must be clear: These proposals cannot simply become law; they require the comprehensive involvement of those affected.

Higher thresholds for care level classification would mean fewer benefits for those in need of care and for caregivers.

A new, private supplemental insurance plan would be an antisocial and unsupportive approach. It places the burden solely on employees, relieves companies of their shared responsibility, and further privatizes the risk of needing long-term care.

Sticking with the partial-benefit system in long-term care is completely the wrong approach. People in need of care and their families need significant and lasting relief. No one can afford the average cost of 3,400 euros for nursing home care on their own.

Among other things, we are missing a clear commitment to an effective cap on long-term care costs. Those in nursing homes cannot and must not continue to be left to shoulder several thousand euros in costs each month on their own.

The working group’s fundamental flaw in reasoning is its refusal to make the long-term care system more equitable: With a universal insurance system—into which civil servants, politicians, and high-income earners also contribute—we could implement an efficient and fair comprehensive long-term care insurance system.”