Contribution rate for long-term care insurance increases
The Care Support and Relief Act increases the contribution rate for social care insurance by 0.35 points to 3.4% as of July 1, 2023. This should lead to additional income of around 6.6 billion euros per year. The employer’s share should be equal to 1.7%. In order to strengthen home care, the care allowance will increase by 5% as of January 1st, 2024. The same applies to outpatient benefits in kind. At the beginning of 2025 and 2028, cash and non-cash benefits are regularly adjusted based on price developments. According to the new regulation, relatives can in future claim the care support allowance for up to ten working days per calendar year per care case.
Reform envisages new benefits
According to the new law, the surcharges from the long-term care insurance funds for those in need of care in inpatient care facilities will also be increased in a staggered manner from the beginning of 2024. The longer the stay in the home, the higher the surcharge. In addition, the legislative decision is intended to structure and systematize the procedure for determining the need for care and expand the possibility of including those in need of care in the inpatient preventive care or rehabilitation facility of the respective caregiver. There is a new performance element in long-term care insurance law for this. The recently introduced benefit surcharges, which reduce the personal contribution to be borne by those in need of care in full inpatient nursing care, are expected to increase again in 2024. In 2025 and 2028, cash and non-cash benefits are to be automatically dynamized based on price developments.
Educational effort in contribution law
In implementation of constitutional court requirements, the law further differentiates the care contribution rate according to the number of children. The contribution surcharge for childless increases on 01.07. from currently 0.35 to 0.6 contribution rate points. For this purpose, a digital procedure for the collection and verification of the number of children eligible for consideration is to be developed. Until then, a simplified verification procedure applies. For members without children, the care contribution rate is 4%.
New Competence Center Digitization
A new competence center for digitization and care is intended to identify and disseminate the potential for improving and strengthening nursing care for both those affected and those caring for them. The existing support program for digital and technical acquisitions in care facilities to relieve the care staff will be expanded after the planned reform and given an unlimited period. The previously largely voluntary connection of outpatient and inpatient care facilities to the telematics infrastructure will be mandatory in the future.
Combination of short-term and respite care
The so-called relief budget will take effect after the reform on July 1, 2025. In home care, preventive care (previously up to 1,612 euros) and short-term care (previously up to 1,774 euros) can then be flexibly combined for a total of 3,539 euros. For parents of children in need of care with care grade 4 or 5, the relief budget is already available from January 2024 in the amount of 3,386 euros and will increase to 3,539 euros by July 2025.
In the accompanying resolution, the Federal Council calls for further changes
For the Federal Council, the planned care reform does not go far enough. In an accompanying resolution, he calls for further structural reform steps to make long-term care insurance fit for the future. He is also committed to reforming emergency care with the aim of directing patients to the appropriate and medically correct level of care and relieving the burden on hospitals. According to the state chamber, people who do not need immediate medical attention should use outpatient medical care, which is responsible for ensuring emergency care in these cases. The Federal Council criticizes that the law contains a regulation that runs counter to these goals. An incentive is even created to make use of the emergency structures of the hospitals at any time, even though there is no immediate need for treatment. The Bundesrat calls on the Federal Government to revise this regulation as part of an overall reform of emergency care and to strengthen the responsibility of the panel doctor area for emergencies that can be treated on an outpatient basis.
Retirees get more money
In its session on Friday, the Bundesrat also approved an ordinance by the Federal Government on pension adjustments from East to West. On 01.07. pensioners will then receive more money. The increase is 4.39% in the West and 5.86% in the East. This means that in future a uniform pension value of EUR 37.60 will apply throughout Germany. Previously there were different pension values - they have been gradually adjusted since July 2018. Originally, there should only be a uniform pension value from July 2024. Due to the increased wages and the positive development on the labor market, the alignment is now being achieved a year earlier than legally planned. Pension payments will also change for farmers. The general pension value (West) is 17.36 euros or 17.33 euros (East).
European posting law also applies to road traffic
The cross-border posting right for employees will also apply in future to the road transport sector. The Bundestag decided on this yesterday, and the Bundesrat approved it today. The background is, among other things, the European Posting of Workers Directive and the Road Traffic Directive, which are now being implemented in national law. Truck drivers who work in Germany but are employed by a company based in another EU country are affected. The secondment law regulates maximum working hours, minimum rest periods and break times. The EU directive also stipulates that posted drivers are remunerated during their work in other EU countries according to the local wage regulations. Persons who only drive through EU countries or carry out purely bilateral transport are exempt from the regulations. Companies must submit a posting notification at the latest when the posting begins. A new multilingual portal will be available for this in the future. In addition, they must give their drivers certain documents for the time abroad, which must be shown on request. This included, among other things, the identity of the company and the start and end of employment. German customs is responsible for checking the specifications. Violations are subject to fines.
More consumer protection for rail passengers
Just one day after the Bundestag, the Bundesrat also approved a law amending the General Railway Act. In future, consumers will be able to submit applications for reimbursement and compensation due to delays or train cancellations electronically – for example by email or in an app. Railway companies and station operators are obliged to set up a central contact point for passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility, so that travelers only have to contact one person for planning and organisation. In order to sustainably improve the possibilities of taking bicycles with you, the law obliges the railway companies to draw up plans for the increased and improved transport of bicycles and to determine an appropriate number of parking spaces.
Cashless payment at charging stations by card
Publicly accessible charging stations for electric vehicles that go into operation from July next year must offer at least one contactless payment method with debit and credit cards. The Federal Council approved a corresponding government ordinance on Friday. Actually, the equipment for contactless payment by card was already mandatory for new charging stations from July 1st, 2023, in order to facilitate spontaneous ad hoc charging on the go. However, according to the federal government, there is not yet a sufficient range of charging stations on the market that meet these requirements. The implementation deadline for the contactless card payment option has therefore been extended by one year to July 1, 2024. The Federal Council pointed out on Friday that when the planned European AFIR regulation (Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation) comes into force, a further review of the existing national regulations will be necessary. He asks the federal government to continue to work at EU level for consumer-friendly regulations when charging electric cars – this includes in particular an increase in price transparency.
Day of Remembrance for German Democracy
The Bundesrat advocates a national day of remembrance to commemorate the birth of democracy in Germany. The revolution of 1848/49 is central to the history of German democracy and the nation state. With the German National Assembly on May 18, 1848 in Frankfurt’s Paulskirche, a parliament for the emerging German state came together for the first time in the course of the revolution. The Federal Council sees the 175th anniversary as a good reason to honor the events. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had already advocated creating a day of remembrance for the diversity of democratic traditions. A commission of historians should propose a suitable date from the point of view of the regional chamber.
Draft law against bypassing the rental price brake
The Federal Council wants to supplement the rental price brake and strengthen tenant protection for short-term rentals of living space. It has therefore decided to introduce a corresponding bill into the German Bundestag. In the case of furnished living space, there is currently the possibility of circumventing the rental price brake. This results from the fact that the furniture surcharge, which is added to the net cold rent, is not regulated by law. For this reason, it does not have to be shown separately. High rents could then be demanded in this way. In order to avoid this in the future, the Federal Council wants to explicitly regulate the furnishing surcharge in the Civil Code – and define the permissible amount. If living space is only rented out for temporary use, numerous tenant protection regulations would not apply. The consequence of this is that the high demand for long-term rental apartments is opposed to an ever-decreasing supply. For living space that is located in an area with a tense housing situation, landlords should therefore only be able to invoke the exclusion of tenant protection regulations in exceptional circumstances according to the draft law.
Editorial office beck-aktuell, June 16, 2023.
Related Links
On the topic on the internet
The legislative resolution of the German Bundestag on the Care Support and Relief Act (BR-Drs. 220/23) can be found on the Bundesrat website in pdf format.
The ordinance of the federal government on pension adjustment East-West (BR-Drs. 181/23) can be found on the Bundesrat website in pdf format.
The Third Ordinance to Amend the Charging Station Ordinance (BR-Drs. 184/23) can be found on the website of the Bundesrat in pdf format.
The draft of a law to strengthen tenant protection when letting furnished living space and short-term letting of living space in areas with a tight housing market (BR-Drs. 218/23) can be found on the Bundesrat website in pdf format.
From the beck-online database
Wesche/Rath, changes about changes in e-mobility – the second and third ordinance to amend the charging station ordinance, EnK News 2023, 010102
Tenants’ Association welcomes state initiative against circumventing the rental price brake, FD-MietR 2021, 443286
From the news archive
Health committee approves care reform with changes, report by the beck-aktuell editorial team from May 24th, 2023, becklink 2027176
Experts criticize the planned care reform, report by the beck-aktuell editorial team from May 11, 2023, becklink 2027055
Pension equalization in East Germany will be achieved in 2023, report by the beck-aktuell editorial team from March 21, 2023, becklink 2026532