The left wants a far-reaching restructuring of elderly care in Germany. According to a concept of the party leadership, profit-oriented care providers should disappear from the market and only non-profit organizations should be financed from public funds. According to the proposals, long-term care insurance should in future cover all long-term care costs without a co-payment. For this purpose, all citizens and all types of income should be used for contributions. In this way, all funding gaps could be plugged, says the party leadership.
Party leader Janine Wissler is to present the concept “For the common good orientation in geriatric care”. It is already available to the German Press Agency. The starting point is the expected increase in people in need of care, the lack of caregivers and the rising costs and personal contributions.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) has his own plans. According to this, the contribution to long-term care insurance is to increase by 0.35 percentage points on July 1 – a little more for people without children. The benefits for those in need of care should then increase slightly at the beginning of 2024. From the perspective of the left, however, that is not enough.
Wissler criticized that yield-oriented providers of care facilities are currently given priority over public providers. The profit interests withdraw money from the system. “Care providers for the elderly must be committed to non-profit organizations,” Wissler demanded. In order to solve the staff shortage, higher wages and better conditions are needed. “Experience shows that this can hardly be done with private companies, for whom staff is primarily a cost factor,” said Wissler.
