Lauterbach has brought its care reform through the Bundestag.
(Photo: IMAGO/Political Moments)
The Bundestag has passed the controversial care reform with relief for those in need of care and higher contributions. On Friday, 377 MPs voted by roll call for the law by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD). 275 MPs voted no, two abstained.
The effects of the Care Support and Relief Act at a glance:
relief budget
With the planned relief budget, the services of preventive care and short-term care are to be bundled. From July 1, 2025, caring relatives should be able to use services of 3539 euros. For example, to be able to take a break while care is guaranteed. For parents of children in need of care with care grade 4 or 5, this budget should be available from January 1, 2024 with 3386 euros and should also increase to 3539 euros by July 2025.
dynamization
A mechanism is also planned to regularly adjust all care services by 4.5 percent from 2025. The original plan was five percent. The coalition had to cancel in order to finance the relief budget.
Lower deductibles
For nursing home residents, the co-payments have been increasing for years – also with the relief surcharges introduced in 2022. They are to be raised from 2024. This should reduce the personal contribution for pure care in the first year in the home by 15 instead of the previous five percent, in the second by 30 instead of 25 percent, in the third by 50 instead of 45 percent and from the fourth year by 75 instead of 70 percent.
>> Read here: The welfare state cannot protect heirs during care – a comment
Higher nursing allowance
The nursing allowance, which was last increased in 2017, is to increase by five percent on January 1, 2024, as will the money for benefits in kind. Care allowance is paid as support when the person in need of care is not in an institution. You can use it freely, for example for supervision. Depending on the level of care, they receive between 316 and 901 euros per month.
Higher Contributions
In order to finance the benefits, the care contribution is to increase by 0.35 percentage points as of July 1 this year and by 0.6 percentage points for people without children. It is then 3.4 percent of gross wages, and 4.0 percent for childless people.
>> Read here: Which benefits do I receive for which level of care?
Discounts for families
For families, starting with the second child, there should be staggered deductions from the regular rate of 3.4 percent in the future: with two children, the contribution would be 3.15 percent, with three children 2.9 percent, with four children 2, 65 percent and with five children and more at 2.4 percent. However, the deductions only apply as long as the children to be taken into account are younger than 25 years.
Criticism of the nursing reform
The traffic light coalition had agreed on improvements to the reform this week. This included the relief budget, which was no longer provided for in the meantime. The chairwoman of the AOK federal association, Carola Reimann, spoke on Thursday of a “first, small step”. The long-term perspective is missing. The social long-term care insurance does not get back the five billion euros of corona costs that it laid out during the pandemic.
The pension contributions of caring relatives would also be financed permanently through tax subsidies – unlike what was agreed in the coalition agreement. “Instead, the threatening financial imbalance is averted in the short term simply by increasing contributions,” she says. “But that will bring peace until 2025 at the most.” Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, on the other hand, had defended the reform.
More: Nursing care at home – How relatives master the bureaucracy and make the right provisions