Berlin. The Private Health Insurance Association (PKV) is promoting a “new generational contract” in the provision of care. The long-term care social insurance contributions system is “reaching its limits” due to demographic changes, according to a report published Thursday Conceptual document the private insurer.
In less than two decades, the contribution rate for care has doubled, the authors write. In the next 15 years, it could double compared to today. The general Contribution rate it is currently 3.4% and the surcharge for policyholders without children is 0.6%. There are discounts for families with more than one child under 25 years of age.
The reason for the strong development of the contribution rate is the “expensive healthcare reforms” of recent years, according to the PKV document. With the reforms, the circle of benefit recipients, as well as the benefits, were increasingly expanded.
“Expensive care reforms”
Meanwhile, costs were spiraling out of control. Nursing care funds’ expenses grew faster than their revenues. “The SPV has been living beyond its means for years. This leads to a structural deficit.” The increase in social security contributions – due also and above all to increasingly high healthcare contributions – endangers Germany as a business location and places a “disproportionate burden” on the younger generations in particular.
As a solution to poverty, the private sector suggests “initiating a generation-appropriate social security reform”. The concept foresees increasing the contribution rate care insurance keep it stable or even reduce it, increasing production expenses less than revenue. This means that the younger generation can “afford full coverage of care costs” with a comparable overall financial burden, even with supplementary care insurance.
The debt of the younger generation would be “reduced to zero” for the first time in a branch of social security. There is also a need for more nursing care provision in companies – the chemical industry is showing how this can be done.
More intergenerational equity is needed
For older insured people who are no longer able to set up additional private provision, a subsidy based on the actual costs of care may be temporarily granted. The PKV Association suggests that this dynamism could then be gradually reduced according to birth cohorts.
According to the concept, the current level should remain at the current level for people aged 60 and under – “they will therefore be the first generation that will have to take responsibility for future increases in care costs”.
Basically, more personal care is needed if care is needed, according to the authors of the PKV article. Older people would have to dip into their savings if necessary – and most people can be expected to do so. “The current generation of retirees is the richest in history.”
Reuther: Broaden our view of the problem
The proportion of care home residents relying on “help with care” remains stable at around 30 per cent. Two-thirds of pensioners can be expected to have to pay the high level of inpatient contributions. They do not depend on government assistance. The personal contribution – that is, the amount that residents have to pay out of their own pocket for investment expenses, food and accommodation, as well as care – is currently a national average of 2,806 euros per month.
The head of the PKV association, Dr. On the occasion of the publication of the article, Florian Reuther called for a broader view of the financing of care. “If we want to reform health care in a generationally appropriate way, we can’t just think about those who need care today.”
Germany needs a generational contract that protects taxpayers and younger taxpayers from overburdening and keeps Germany as an internationally competitive business location, Reuther said. (man)