Caretaker seeks a billion-dollar return from Klingbeil
In a recent development, Care Commissioner Katrin Staffler of the federal government has called for immediate action to address the significant funding gap in Germany's care insurance, which is estimated to exceed 12.3 billion euros by 2029 according to the Federal Audit Office.
The coalition government is responding by establishing commissions tasked with developing comprehensive reforms aimed at closing the funding gaps and ensuring stable contribution rates. One such commission, which began its work in early July, is led by Commissioner Staffler and aims to present initial cornerstones by the end of the year.
The proposed solutions focus on urgent reforms and cost-control measures due to the anticipated shortfall. Measures under consideration include structural reforms to reduce expenditures, such as promoting digital health innovations like electronic patient records (ePA) and digital health applications (DiGAs), which improve efficiency and reduce costs in healthcare delivery.
Other systemic approaches are likely to involve changes in reimbursement and pricing for pharmaceuticals, hospital care restructuring to close or merge facilities, and enhancing outpatient and telemedicine services to optimize care pathways and costs. The emphasis is also on balancing the financial burden between employers and employees while protecting insured individuals from excessive contribution rate hikes.
Although not explicitly attributed to Katrin Staffler, the general policy direction involves tightening health and care insurance finances through digital transformation, legislative reforms, and improved care coordination and efficiency to address the funding gap sustainably.
Commissioner Staffler has argued that the federal government owes more than five billion euros to the care insurance due to the pandemic and has called on Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil to prioritize budgeting to address the care insurance funding issue. Staffler also suggested that additional funding may be necessary to balance the care insurance's billion-dollar deficit from the budget.
However, Staffler did not provide details on what fundamental changes to the services are necessary or rule out unpopular decisions by the reform working group. The care sector remains a major challenge in German politics, with the care commissioner highlighting that the training of doctors is funded with tax money.
Concrete legislation based on these cornerstones is expected next year. In the meantime, the previously promised loans of two billion euros are not likely to be the final amount required for the care insurance. Staffler believes that the previously planned loans of over two billion euros are insufficient for sustainable financing of the care insurance.
In summary, the solutions include immediate structural reforms, leveraging digital health technologies to reduce costs, reforming reimbursement systems, and establishing expert commissions to devise long-term strategies to close the multi-billion euro funding gap in German care insurance. These efforts collectively aim to stabilize contribution rates and ensure the viability of care services for insured individuals.
Policy-and-legislation adjustments are being considered as part of the comprehensive reforms proposed by the commissions, with the aim of closing the funding gap in Germany's care insurance. Commissioner Staffler has advocated for vocational training programs in the care sector as a potential systemic approach to addressing the deficit, highlighting the need for skilled personnel to ensure stable care services.
