According to the preliminary report, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) is not the addressee of the letter. It was only sent to him “for information”.
(Photo: IMAGO/Chris Emil Janssen)
Berlin Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) is planning higher contributions to social long-term care insurance. This emerges from a draft bill available to the Handelsblatt.
The contributions should therefore increase by 0.35 percentage points to 3.4 percent of gross wages. In addition, the childless allowance is to be raised by 0.25 contribution rate points to 0.6 contribution rate points. Your contribution would therefore be 4.0 percent.
Lauterbach is thus implementing a judgment by the Federal Constitutional Court, which had called for greater consideration of the upbringing effort of parents. In return, members with several children from the second to the fifth child are relieved of 0.15 contribution rate points per child.
This would mean that the sum of all social contributions for pension, health, unemployment and long-term care insurance from July would be 40.8 percent. For childless, it would surpass the 41 percent mark.
In the past, the economy had repeatedly pushed for limiting social security contributions to 40 percent. Overall, the contributions would thus rise by 0.85 percentage points this year: At the beginning of the year, the additional contribution to health insurance was increased by 0.3 points and the contribution to unemployment insurance by 0.2 percentage points.
Dispute over federal subsidy with Finance Minister Lindner
The higher contributions result, among other things, from a deficit of 4.5 billion euros. Health insurance and social organizations had demanded a federal subsidy to absorb this. However, there is no mention of this in the draft bill. The Federal Ministry of Finance had already indicated that it would not provide additional billions for long-term care insurance.
In an interview with the Handelsblatt, Lauterbach also gave Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) responsibility for the rising social security contributions. “The finance minister is focusing on compliance with the debt brake and on projects such as the stock pension and the Bundeswehr,” he said. “Then rising additional wage costs can hardly be avoided.”
The alternative would be that we overwhelm more and more people with care. “Nobody wants that,” he said. Higher contributions threatened in the statutory health insurance.
At the same time, Lauterbach is planning to expand the benefits of social long-term care insurance. In order to further strengthen home care, the care allowance is to increase by five percent as of January 1, 2024. In addition, the benefit surcharges for those in need of care in inpatient care are to be increased by five to ten percent.
>> Read more: Lauterbach in the Handelsblatt interview about his clinic reform and the situation of the nursing and health insurance companies
“This measure counteracts the trend towards increasing personal contributions even more,” says the draft bill. The entitlement to long-term care allowance is also to be expanded. In the future, it should be possible to use it for up to ten working days per calendar year.
Associations demand tax subsidy
The statutory health and long-term care insurance funds and the large social organizations had previously asked the federal government in a fire letter to quickly compensate for the high deficits in long-term care insurance with billions of euros in taxes.
In 2022, the statutory long-term care insurance recorded a deficit of 2.25 billion euros.
(Photo: dpa)
“We urge you to quickly stabilize the financing of social long-term care insurance through federal funds so that the necessary securing of liquidity is not exclusively at the expense of the contributors,” says the letter to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP ), which is available to the Handelsblatt.
It was signed by the associations of statutory health and long-term care insurance funds at federal level, several social organizations and the federal working group for non-statutory welfare.
In 2022, the statutory long-term care insurance recorded a deficit of 2.25 billion euros. Another deficit of three billion euros is expected for the current year.
>> Read more: Contribution shock in long-term care insurance threatens – Lindner lets Lauterbach accrue
The main cost drivers are the growing number of people in need of care and the increasing expenses, among other things due to the statutory payment of nursing staff according to tariffs.
In addition, the federal government has not yet reimbursed the additional costs caused by the corona pandemic totaling 5.5 billion euros. According to the preliminary report, Minister of Health Lauterbach is not the addressee of the letter. It was only sent to him “for information”.
More: Study – More people in need of care in the home dependent on social assistance.