The number of people in need of care is increasing. At the same time, according to a study, more nursing staff will soon be retiring than will be coming. This is likely to drastically worsen the personnel shortage. Contributions could also increase.
According to a new study, insured people in Germany could soon face a further increase in care contributions. The ever-increasing number of people in need of care in Germany is likely to require an increase by the turn of the year, according to the new care report from the health insurance company DAK-Gesundheit, which is to be presented today and from which the dpa news agency has already reported.
It was actually decided to provide coverage until 2025
A contribution rate adjustment to ensure the solvency of long-term care insurance is likely as early as 2024. To stabilize long-term care insurance, the Bundestag passed a reform last year. The finances should actually be secured until 2025.
The contribution for those without children rose to four percent in mid-2023 and to 3.4 percent for those paying contributions with one child. The employer share rose to 1.7 percent. If you have more children, the contribution decreases.
According to the DAK report, there are now clear financing gaps for the fourth quarter of 2024, “which will probably require increases in contribution rates before the federal election next year,” it says.
More nursing staff are retiring and Lack of young talent
In addition, the scientists at the Freiburg social research institute AGP are sounding the alarm about the personnel situation. The labor market reserve in nursing is shrinking, according to the DAK report.
The comparison of age-related career departures and a decreasing number of young talent results in a gap that will become worse in the coming years. In the 2020s, there will no longer be enough graduates from nursing schools to close the gap of baby boomers leaving the profession.
Tipping points in the nursing shortage will be reached this decade
According to the study, there were over 1.14 million professional nurses in Germany in 2023. More than one in five of them will reach retirement age in the next ten years. In each federal state, around 20 percent of the staff would then have to be replaced – the need varies between 19.7 percent in Saxony and 26.5 percent in Bremen.
“In individual federal states, tipping points will be reached this decade at which significantly more nurses will retire than young people will enter the profession,” says the report. This will be the case in Bremen and Bavaria as early as 2029.