Johanniter accident help eV
Berlin (ots)
On the occasion of today’s cabinet decision on the Care Support and Relief Act (PUEG), Jörg Lüssem, member of the federal board of the Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe, explains: “The current draft law and the service adjustments provided for therein will by no means be sufficient to offset the massive cost increases in care cover and ensure care in the coming years. A holistic care reform is still needed in this election period.”
The cabinet decision thus falls well short of the expectations from the coalition agreement. The Johanniter are pushing for speedy political measures in view of the tense supply situation. “Only through a holistic structural reform can the political goal of generation-fair financing of long-term care insurance and a sustainable and future-proof service structure be achieved. The current cabinet decision is further away from this than ever,” continued Lüssem.
On the Care Support and Relief Act
The law aims to make various adjustments to benefits and contributions in order to improve the care-related financial burden on those in need of care and to stabilize the financial situation of social care insurance. However, Helvi Seehafer, head of the nursing department at Johanniter, is skeptical about the level of the planned adjustments in benefits: “The Johanniter fundamentally welcome any legal initiative that aims to improve nursing care. The planned increase in the outpatient benefits-in-kind budget and the nursing allowance by 5 percent from 2024 comes too late and is too low. The planned regular dynamization in the years 2025 and 2028 does not reflect the real price developments. The increasing financial burden on those in need of care due to steadily and significantly increasing personal contributions for needs-based care is thus not sufficiently alleviated”. , emphasizes Helvi Seehafer.
For today’s cabinet decision
In the past few weeks, significant short-term changes have been made to the original draft bill: the planned merging of the budgets for short-term and respite care into a common annual amount has been dropped, as has the budget for pilot projects to promote innovative support measures and structures for those in need of care on site and in the district . Further deletions relate to the planned extension of the funding program for good working conditions in nursing. These short-term changes are incomprehensible to Helvi Seehafer, head of the care department: “From our point of view, the joint annual amount would have meant a concrete improvement.”
The planned initiation of a “Digitization Competence Center” and the long-term promotion of digitization measures in care facilities are positive. According to Helvi Seehafer, the measures outlined to limit temporary work in care facilities are also a step in the right direction: “In the future, additional costs for temporary work should no longer be allowed to be billed to the care insurance funds. In the long term, this will have the desired effect of promoting fair conditions and regular employment , occur – however, we fear that this will be reduced for the time being by the fact that the regulations only apply to long-term care and not to hospitals.”
About the Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe
With around 29,000 employees, more than 46,000 volunteers and 1.2 million supporting members, the Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe is one of the largest aid organizations in Germany and at the same time a large company in the social economy. Johanniter is involved in the areas of rescue and medical services, civil protection, care and nursing for the elderly and sick, transport services for people with restricted mobility, work with children and young people, hospice work and other charitable services, as well as humanitarian aid abroad . More information at www.johanniter.de/johanniter-unfall-hilfe
Press contact:
Juliane Flurschütz, Deputy Spokesperson
Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe eV, federal office
Tel. 030-26997-361, Mobil 0173 619 3409
E-Mail: [email protected]
Original content from: Johanniter Unfall Hilfe eV, transmitted by news aktuell