Manuela Schwesig, minister president of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has criticized federal health minister Nina Warken's plans for nursing care reform. She sees them as shifting problems onto the weakest. DAK chief Andreas Storm also called for a reform moratorium.
Schwesig accused Warken of increasing pressure on those in need of care and their families. A proposal to reduce co-payments only after 18 months instead of 12 would help the fewest people affected, she told Bild newspaper.
The SPD politician called for an overall concept involving the federal government, states, municipalities and care facilities. “This is not a reform. This is shifting the problem at the expense of the weakest,” she stressed.
Storm warned of “irreparable damage” to the long-term care insurance. The proposals would lead to more care poverty and higher costs for municipalities, the DAK chief told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland. Warken had announced plans for financial security by mid-May, as the care insurance faces a shortfall of six billion euros next year.
