The District Council of Germany has issued a protest against the reform plans for long-term care insurance proposed by Health Minister Nina Warken, arguing that these plans would introduce additional financial burdens onto districts and municipalities.
Archim Brötel, president of the District Council, told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland that he finds it “unacceptable” that the draft again seeks to shift costs onto communally provided long-term care support. According to calculations by the Federal Ministry of Health, this would amount to at least one billion euros annually starting in 2027, decreasing to a minimum of 800 million euros each year afterward, Brötel stated. He added that these figures are unsustainable for local districts, cities, and communities, especially given an existing communal deficit estimated at 30 billion euros.
The District Council President further emphasized that “it cannot be acceptable that a public system is relieved simply by arbitrarily shifting costs onto the next public entity.” Brötel criticized the proposal for once again instructing municipalities to fill this financial gap. He concluded, telling RND, that policy must operate in a way where deficits are prevented from occurring altogether; or if they do arise, they should be filled internally, and not always at the expense of third parties.
