The FDP has suggested introducing a capital-backed pillar for long-term care insurance, similar to the structure used for pensions, as a solution to the financial issues facing the sector. FDP deputy Henning Höne told the “Rheinische Post” (Saturday edition): “Long-term care insurance must also have a capital-backed pillar. We don’t just need a stock pension; we need a stock care plan.”
He strongly criticized the Social Democratic Party’s (SPD) proposals to implement a “Pflege-Soli” (Care Solidarity Surcharge) for private patients to subsidize and support the financially troubled statutory long-term care funds. Höne argued that “big government” is overburdening citizens with too much taxation and is simultaneously inefficient in how it manages the collected funds. He stated that the Care Solidarity Surcharge is merely another attempt to push more private money into reform-needing systems. Furthermore, he claimed that the SPD has historically prevented necessary reforms and now seeks to penalize those who had privately provided for themselves.
This approach presents an alternative path to the SPD’s proposal, which centers on having private patients bear a larger portion of the costs associated with the statutory long-term care insurance system.
