.
Berlin (German news agency) – The FDP is urging Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) to implement a care reform with more funding to curb cost increases. “If we don’t finally change course towards more capital cover, the financing of care will become a bottomless pit,” said the care policy spokeswoman for the FDP parliamentary group, Nicole Westig, of the “Bild” (Wednesday edition).
Every year the question arises as to where the money should come from. The FDP demands a coherent overall concept for sustainable and generation-fair financing, said Westig. “We can’t burden young and future generations with more and more mountains of debt. The first proposals are already on the table, for example for supplementary pensions.” They think they should be included. “The minister could already present his own proposals if he had set up the expert commission agreed in the coalition agreement in good time,” said Westig. Eugen Brysch, head of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, criticizes Lauterbach for his statements in the program “Hart aber fair” on Monday. Lauterbach speaks “from an extremely privileged position,” said Brysch, referring to the health minister’s mother, for whose care costs the minister says he pays. This shows that the Federal Minister of Health “has no idea about the financial needs of those affected,” said Brysch. “Long-term care insurance first makes people poor and then they become recipients of social assistance.” The Minister of Health is showing those in need of help the ice-cold shoulder, said Brysch. “The fundamental problem of care in old age cannot be solved by patching things up.”
HOME PAGE