- CDU politicians push for reform of nursing insurance
A proposal from the CDU advocates for a fundamental reform of the nursing care insurance system. The current coverage would be converted into a federally funded comprehensive insurance that fully covers nursing care costs. A report in the "Die Welt" newspaper confirmed this, referring to it as an "East-West paper" as the concept originates from Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. The reason behind this is the significantly increased nursing care costs. Currently, one in three nursing care recipients relies on social assistance because their pension does not cover the costs, it was stated.
"In Saxony, it's even more than one in three. Pensions averaging 1,200 to 1,400 euros per month are up against nursing care costs of 3,000 euros. Those in need automatically become social cases," quoted "Die Welt" from Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer (CDU): "North Rhine-Westphalia's Social Minister Karl-Josef Laumann and I have developed a concept for a system change, for a comprehensive insurance that fully covers nursing care costs." According to calculations by the IGES Institute, this would require around 16.5 billion euros in 2026, to be covered by the federal government.
According to the information, nursing care recipients and their relatives could be relieved of a total of 8.9 billion euros. This is the amount that affected individuals currently have to pay annually out of their own pocket for nursing care costs. "Nursing care recipients and their families would then only have to cover costs that are not directly related to nursing care," explained Kretschmer. According to the CDU concept, these would mainly include investment, operating, and catering costs. "If contributors also want to insure themselves against these costs, they will be able to voluntarily take out affordable nursing care supplementary insurance in the future, which will cover their extent," quoted the newspaper from the reform paper.
Nursing care recipients in Saxony who currently rely on social assistance due to insufficient pension coverage could potentially benefit from the proposed healthcare insurance reform. Under the new system, they might not have to cover nursing care costs directly, as these would be fully covered by the insurance, according to Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer.
In line with the CDU's proposal, individuals who wish to safeguard themselves against additional costs not covered by the comprehensive insurance, such as investments, operations, and catering, could opt for affordable nursing care supplementary insurance in the future.
