Contributors must prepare for a further increase in nursing care insurance contributions at the beginning of 2025. This was announced by several health insurance companies. In addition, there are other major problems in the area of nursing care.
The health insurance companies expect an increase in the contribution to nursing care insurance in 2025. “The nursing care funds assume that the financial resources in the first quarter of 2025 will total less than one month’s expenditure. In this case, the federal government may increase the contribution rate by legal order,” the Association of Substitute Health Insurance Funds NRW told the Rheinische Post.
Increase already at the turn of the year?
In order to ensure the solvency of the entire system, according to current data, “an increase in the contribution rate is probably necessary as early as the beginning of 2025,” it continued. DAK CEO Andreas Storm made a similar statement at the beginning of April. He spoke of the need to “increase the contribution rate for nursing care insurance probably at the turn of the year – according to current calculations by around two tenths of the contribution rate.”
The current contribution rate is 3.4 percent of gross income, and 4 percent for those without children. Employees and employers pay half of the contribution – excluding the childless supplement – i.e. 1.7 percent each.
Strong increase in Care recipients
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said on Monday that the German nursing care insurance system is facing a surprising increase in the number of new people in need of care. In recent years, this number has risen “virtually explosively.” There are around 35,000 more people in need of care than usual in previous years.
In view of these figures, the president of the social association VdK, Verena Bentele, considers a greater financing of nursing care insurance from tax revenues to be inevitable. For her, it is “one of the most important social tasks to subsidise nursing care from tax revenues if otherwise the system collapses,” she said in the Inforadio of the rbbShe also advocated merging private and statutory nursing care insurance.
500,000 nursing staff missing
In addition to the difficult financial situation, there is another problem: the German Nursing Council is warning of a dramatic shortage of nursing staff. By 2034, there will probably be a shortage of 500,000 nursing staff, association president Christine Vogler told the newspaper Bild.
Due to increasing life expectancy, more and more people are needing care, according to the German Nursing Council. The high part-time rate in the sector must also be taken into account – and due to demographic change, there are fewer and fewer people working or starting training in nursing, says Vogler: “The gap between supply and demand is getting bigger and bigger.” There is already a shortage of around 115,000 professional full-time workers in the nursing sector.
More dementia patients
At the same time, the Medical Service of the Statutory Health Insurance Funds (MDK) expects a further significant increase in the number of cases requiring care due to dementia. If no breakthrough is achieved in therapy and prevention, the number will continue to rise sharply, said the MDK’s Vice-Chairwoman, Carola Engler, to the Augsburger Allgemeine. The nursing care insurance assessors would have had to process around 160,000 more initial applications in 2023 than in 2022.