The SPD parliamentary group has strongly criticized the assessment presented by Federal Minister of Health Carsten Linnemann (CDU), which suggests that reductions in benefits within the statutory long-term care insurance may be necessary.
Christos Pantazis, the SPD parliamentary group’s health policy spokesman, told the “Rheinische Post” that the coalition had committed to keeping contribution rates, and consequently labor supplementary costs, stable. He stated that while this is a demanding goal, it does not mean that blanket benefit cuts are inevitable. Before discussing cuts for those needing care and their relatives, according to Pantazis, all economic reserves must be used, bureaucracy must be reduced, care structures must be improved, and crucially, the financing needs to be made fairer.
Pantazis further emphasized that care is a communal life risk and therefore its financial responsibility must be distributed fairly. He admitted that a solidarity-based care insurance system represents a compelling prospect for him. As a practical and concrete reform step, he supports achieving a constitutionally compliant financial equalization between social and private care insurance. Calculations suggest this could free up between 3 and 3.5 billion euros annually for the social care insurance. This potential should not be disregarded from the outset. For this reason, he explicitly welcomes the comprehensive mandate given to the Care Structure Commission, asking it to examine equalization mechanisms between the different insurance systems and develop viable reform proposals.
While he agreed that benefits could be designed more precisely, Pantazis stressed that all other options must be seriously examined before any additional burden is placed on people needing care. He added that both the federal government and the states must fulfill their respective financial responsibilities.
Criticism also came from the social association VdK. VdK Chairwoman Verena Bentele commented to the “Rheinische Post” that “Only after a commission is established to develop solutions for care does the Health Minister declare a specific savings target of around ten percent and rule out benefit cuts,” she said. Bentele expressed concern over the outcome: “The result is already determined. Those who desperately need a solution for good care will thereby lose trust in the work of the commission.” The VdK president noted, “People needing care and their relatives need reliability, not the certainty that cuts will happen eventually.” She concluded that the association’s demand of the federal government is clear: “Let the commission work independently and categorically exclude benefit cuts. The VdK will not support this path and will represent those affected with all its might.”
Bentele also countered the government’s focus on “providing assistance more precisely.” She criticized the idea, stating, “If the minister talks about ‘helping more specifically,’ we cannot be naive: in practice, that means people receive less.” She stressed that being in need of care is not a luxury but an unforeseen event resulting from strokes, dementia diagnoses, or accidents. She asserted that the care insurance system has a financing problem, not an entitlement problem, noting that it currently covers services that should have been paid by taxes for years. Instead, she demanded a solidarity-based financing model where everyone contributes-including civil servants, the self-employed, and high-income earners-along with a cap on out-of-pocket expenses.
