ASB Federal Association
Cologne/Berlin (ots)
After yesterday’s ministerial hearing of the care support and relief law, the ASB is disappointed because the draft bill does not address essential problems in care. “The draft bill missed the opportunity to limit temporary work in nursing,” says Dr. Uwe Martin Fichtmüller, General Manager of ASB Germany eV. “This continues a threatening development: Personnel service providers recruit nursing staff with the promise of high salaries that are unusual for the industry, deployment plans as desired and additional benefits in kind, in order to then lend them to nursing facilities at excessive costs. This has exacerbated the already difficult personnel situation. In recent months Many inpatient and outpatient care facilities had to close. More and more people in need of care are unable to find a nursing service or a place in a home.”
The positive approaches of the care support and relief draft law were not enough, because the financial improvements in the care allowance, care benefits in kind and the relief in the personal contributions in inpatient care are only planned for January 1st, 2024 with an increase of only five percent. The gap between the amount that would be necessary for needs-based care and the amount actually paid by the long-term care insurance is widening.
This applies in particular to day care, for which no improvements are provided for in the draft bill – neither the expansion of day care promised in the coalition agreement nor an increase in the amount that those in need of care can use for day care. “Given the great importance that day care has for those in need of care and their families, this is completely incomprehensible,” says Dr. Martin Uwe Fichtmuller. “Day care enables those in need of care to remain in their own homes and allows relatives to pursue their own professional activity. It is an indispensable part of the care system and should be valued as such.”
The ASB continues to criticize that the medium and long-term financing of long-term care insurance is not secured. The planned premium increase is not sufficient. Contrary to what was announced, neither the pension insurance contributions for caring relatives nor the apportionment of training costs are to be financed from tax revenue.
“Even if the coalition agreement did not announce a comprehensive reform of long-term care insurance, but only packages of measures for long-term care, at least the improvements agreed in the coalition agreement should have been implemented,” says Dr. Uwe Martin Fichtmüller is convincing.
Press contact:
Alexandra Valentino
Press and public relations officer
Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Deutschland e. V
Phone: +49 221 47605-324
E-Mail: a,[email protected]
Original content from: ASB Federal Association, transmitted by news aktuell