Soziale Pflegeversicherung unter Druck: Einordnung der geplanten Pflegereform

Social Long-Term Care Insurance (Soziale Pflegeversicherung, SPV) is once again at the centre of the socio-political debate. In recent years, rising expenditure resulting from reforms has necessitated repeated increases in contribution rates. In future, the financing of the SPV is likely to come under further pressure due to demographic ageing. With the Pflegeneuordnungsgesetz, the Federal Ministry of Health is responding to this development. The draft bill addresses the key drivers of expenditure in the SPV: the access to benefits as well as the indexation and the scope of benefits. However, it remains to be seen whether these measures will be sufficient to stabilise the SPV in the long term. The reform must not only limit short-term funding problems but also prepare long-term care insurance for the demographic challenges of the coming decades. Therefore, a capital-funded component should also be integrated into the SPV in order to limit co-payments in the long term and to structure funding in a more intergenerationally equitable manner.