Rothgang assesses care bill Calls for shared financing

Sep 30

Heinz Rothgang tells Tagesthemen that the cabinet measures can avert an imminent payment crisis but leave fundamental care-insurance problems unresolved. A commission cannot force political agreement, which reduced immediate pressure may make harder. He advocates income-based, risk-adjusted equalization between private and statutory insurance, citing their differing risk profiles. He backs the SPD's €1,500 care-component cap chiefly to halt future annual increases, with tax funding for training and state investment contributions as possible further relief. He considers tighter care-grade thresholds justifiable if they restore the advisory council's original recommendations after a government expansion. Adequate staffing, pay and care will cost more, he argues, and contributors should collectively fund it rather than concentrating the burden on people needing care. These are his assessments and proposals.

Tagesthemen reports cabinet approval of a revised care-insurance bill after last-minute coalition negotiations. Planned measures raise the monthly contribution assessment ceiling by €300 to €6,375, increase the childless surcharge by 0.3 percentage points, add a surcharge for co-insured spouses and partners from 2028, and tighten care-grade criteria. Carsten Linnemann calls it a first stabilizing step under financial pressure. Dagmar Schmidt seeks reliable benefits and a fair private/statutory-insurance balance. Structural disputes go to a commission expected to report by the end of January. Greens and Left representatives criticize the compromise and lack of structural reform. Nursing Council president Christine Vogler warns that reduced support for unchanged needs could burden families, delay care and create wider costs. Fundamental reform remains necessary. In a separately recorded interview, economist Heinz Rothgang says the measures can avert an imminent payment crisis but do not resolve the underlying funding problem. He supports private/statutory risk-adjusted financial equalization and considers restoring the original advisory thresholds for care grades justifiable. His assessment differs from Vogler's warning about reduced support. The commission cannot itself compel agreement, he cautions. The September 30 Tagesschau report adds Linnemann's savings aim above €6 billion, continued pension contributions for family carers and prevention/home-care measures. Schmidt says severe cuts were prevented but a sustainable structural foundation remains absent, while Vogler criticizes separating financing from care provision. In the complete Berlin exchange, Preiß describes coalition nervousness and pressure on the SPD, relays Schwesig's criticism of Merz and questions the will to implement the commission's recommendations. These attributed assessments supplement, rather than replace, Tagesthemen's different eligibility-risk and Rothgang accounts.