Before the cabinet meets this Wednesday to decide on the formation of a care commission, various associations have expressed deep skepticism regarding the proposed body and delivered sharp criticism to Health Minister Carsten Linnemann (CDU). Eugen Brysch, the board chairman of the Patient Protection Foundation, told the “Rheinische Post” that he doubts the new commission will be able to develop effective new strategies given the anticipated selection of experts and scientists.
Brysch emphasized that many existing models have been known for over a decade and argued that the financing structure cannot be reinvented. He stated that, consequently, the care system will lack any meaningful boost for future security, suggesting instead that the new federal health minister is demonstrating a lack of flexibility. Furthermore, he deemed the prospect of finding viable proposals to merge private and statutory long-term care insurance unlikely. The patient advocate also pressed for the inclusion of a care cap for nursing home residents on the agenda. Brysch went on to criticize Linnemann’s perceived impotence in other areas, citing the repayment of Corona loans and the federal government’s failure to cover pension contributions for family caregivers. He added that the Federal Minister of Finance and SPD Chairman will be unlikely to approve the allocation of 10 billion euros from the budget to the care insurance.
Meanwhile, the Federation of German Cities and Municipalities is calling upon the federal government to reduce the costs of care assistance borne by local governments through structural reform. According to André Berghegger, the federation’s managing director, municipal expenditures for care assistance have risen substantially, jumping from 4.5 billion euros in 2023 to 6 billion euros in 2025-an increase of 33 percent. This places these costs among the fastest-growing social expenditures for municipalities.
Berghegger suggested that the co-payment ceiling, which was intensely discussed just last week, could offer some assistance. However, he strongly insisted that a much deeper structural reform is inevitable. He demanded the implementation of a permanent and dynamic federal subsidy for long-term care insurance, modeled after similar mechanisms found in other systems, such as pension insurance.
