Overview
- Oliver Blatt of the GKV-Spitzenverband says the long-term care insurance system is “living on debt,” financed by federal loans now totaling €4.2 billion.
- The association expects individual Pflegekassen to require liquidity assistance in 2026 through the Ausgleichsfonds, after the first such bailout was triggered in February 2025.
- Blatt warns the federal loans will be exhausted in 2027, creating a financing gap roughly equal to 0.3 percentage points of the contribution rate without corrective measures.
- He advocates tightening the criteria for recognizing care dependency and assigning care grades, arguing the 2017 reform was very generous and helped double beneficiaries to nearly six million.
- Health insurers and associations criticize the recent Bund-Länder working group’s report as offering no concrete financing options, while deficits and staffing shortages intensify the strain on the system.