Barmer Warns Federal Government of Financial Gaps in Nursing Care Funds
The Chairman of the Board of Barmer, Christoph Straub, warns the federal government about financing difficulties in certain long-term care insurance providers. Despite the planned care reform, he told the magazine Politico that the federal government might have to step in next year. Individual providers might face financing challenges, according to Straub. While care providers cannot go bankrupt, the federal government would then have to step in.
The Social Long-Term Care Insurance (SPV) lacks approximately 8 to 10 billion euros in the coming year. However, the care reform only saves 6.25 billion euros. This leaves a gap of 1.75 to 3.75 billion euros.
The Finance Minister must close this gap, Straub said. He demands, among other things, that the federal government takes over the pension contributions for caregiving relatives from the federal budget in the future. This would relieve the long-term care insurance by about 3 billion euros. Currently, the providers bear these contributions. Furthermore, Straub calls for reimbursement of 5.2 billion euros for pandemic-related expenses. However, the Federal Ministry of Finance had already rejected a corresponding reimbursement at the end of September.
Straub rejects possible service cuts in care, which Health Minister Carsten Linnemann mentioned at the end of October. The already decided cuts for care level 1 are a real cut. The chief of the insurance funds states that he absolutely cannot accept further cuts.
