It's expected that the contribution for long-term care will increase even more come January 2025.
Insurance companies plan to raise contributions for long-term care insurance in 2025, as the current situation puts a strain on the healthcare system. A social expert suggests that the recipients of care should pay for their first year of treatment themselves.
Over the coming years, individuals may have to prepare for an increase in health insurance contributions for long-term care insurance. The German Association of Health Insurance Funds (DAK) and the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds in North Rhine-Westphalia (VdEK) both anticipate these changes at the beginning of 2025. VdEK explained to the "Rheinische Post" that due to funds being less than one month's spending, the federal government could legally increase the contribution rate if necessary. Similarly, DAK board member Andreas Storm had mentioned the need to raise the contribution rate for long-term care insurance, possibly starting from the year-end. The independent advisory board of the Stability Council also expects an increase in social insurance contributions in the coming year of at least half a percentage point.
The federal health minister, Karl Lauterbach, made it clear that he does not see a nursing home reform happening in the current legislative period, amidst a growing number of care recipients. VdEK boss Dirk Ruiss finds this situation "more than disappointing" and demands that private health insurance providers be held accountable. Private long-term care insurance is expected to contribute financially to the public system, which could provide relief of up to €2 billion per year. In addition, Ruiss advocates financing pension contributions for caregivers via taxes, which would save €3.7 billion for the long-term care insurance.
Health insurance companies previously aimed to secure the finances of the long-term care insurance by 2025. In response, the Bundestag decided to raise contributions for childless individuals to 4% and for contributors with children to 3.4% last year. The employer's contribution also increased to 1.7%. With more children, the contribution decreases. It was predicted in October that action would be required on contributions by 2025. Already, significant funding gaps are becoming apparent.
A Freiburg social expert, Bernd Raffelhuschen, supports the idea of a one-year self-payment for care recipients. According to him, the cost burden is unstoppable, and a care leave should be established as soon as possible. This would allow the long-term care insurance to fund payments. Raffelhuschen predicts that long-term care insurance could rise to around 7% for childless people by 2040.
The Medical Service of the Health Insurance Funds (MDK) expects a significant increase in the number of long-term care cases due to the increasing cases of dementia patients. According to MDK's deputy federal managing director, Carola Engler, the number of new applications in the long-term care insurance has increased by 160,000 compared to the previous year, reaching 1.35 million.
Lauterbach warns of an imminent explosion in the number of long-term care recipients. In the previous year, there were about 35,000 more recipients than usual, according to the peak association of health insurance funds. The total number reached 361,000.
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- Given the anticipated increase in contributions for long-term care insurance, individuals may need to consider implementing long-term financial plans that account for these higher costs for care.
- The proposed changes in the care system, such as the suggestion for recipients to pay for their initial year of treatment and the potential increase in long-term care insurance contributions, could significantly impact the overall costs for long-term care.
Source: www.ntv.de
