Despite ongoing debates regarding the looming financial collapse of nursing care insurance, the VdK social association has offered a preliminary reassurance to affected individuals. Verena Bentele, the association’s president, told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland that insured members have no immediate cause for alarm regarding the potential insolvency of their care fund. She stated that care funds cannot go bankrupt. Bentele added that short-term liquidity shortages could be bridged by payments from the common compensation fund, though she also cautioned that this fund is slowly being depleted.
In a related political move, the Social Association of Germany (SoVD) has called on the federal government to repay €5.2 billion related to expenses incurred during the Corona pandemic. Furthermore, the SoVD demands that comprehensive societal duties, such as pension contributions for caring relatives, be permanently financed through tax revenue. Michaela Engelmeier, the board chairperson, told the RND that additional loans would not resolve the structural problems. She also issued a stern warning regarding potential service reductions, cautioning that the new nursing care regulatory law risked becoming merely a law for slashing care entitlements.
