Berlin – Today the draft of the Care Support and Relief Act (PUEG) was discussed in the Bundestag in its first reading. Ulrike Elsner, Chairwoman of the Board of the Association of Substitute Funds e. V. (vdek):
“Now it is up to the parliamentarians. The care law passed in the federal cabinet should be improved in the further process, because it contains no prospects for a sustainable reform of care. This will neither solve the problem of the growing personal contribution to inpatient care, nor will social long-term care insurance be put on a financial footing. Apart from the implementation of the Federal Constitutional Court’s decision to take the number of children into account when calculating contributions, not much remains of the care reform that was once planned. Furthermore, the few attempts at reform are only financed by increasing contributions and thus place a one-sided burden on the contributors. The announced tax financing of non-insurance benefits has not materialized, nor has the federal states assumed responsibility for financing investments. It is particularly unfortunate that the federal government has already given up on the originally planned merging of short-term and preventive care. That would have been a real improvement for the many people being cared for at home. If this law stays in place, there will have to be a new attempt for a more sustainable care reform next year.”
Current photos of the vdek CEOs for reporting can be found here in our picture archive.
The Association of Substitute Funds e. V. (vdek) represents the interests and service provider of all six health insurance companies, which together insure more than 28 million people in Germany:
– Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), Twitter: @TK_Press
– BARMER, Twitter: @BARMER_Presse
– DAK Health, Twitter: @DAKHealth
– KKH Commercial Health Insurance, Twitter: @KKH_Politik
– hkk – Handelskrankenkasse, Twitter: @hkk_Presse
– HEK – Hanseatische Krankenkasse, Twitter: @HEKonline
The Association of Substitute Funds e. V. (vdek) was founded in Eisenach on May 20, 1912 under the name “Association of registered commercial relief funds (substitute funds)”. Until 2009, the association operated under the name “Association of Employee Health Insurance Funds e. V.” (VdAK).
More than 290 employees work at the vdek headquarters in Berlin. In the individual federal states, 15 state representations with a total of around 380 and more than 30 employees in the care bases ensure the regional presence of the substitute health insurance funds.