Tuesday, December 28, 2021
14 percent increase
Local authorities pay dearly for help for those in need of care
Residents of nursing homes have to pay an average of 2125 euros for their accommodation. Not everyone can afford that. If there are no high-earning children in the breach, the municipalities are in demand. The Left Party speaks of a cost explosion.
The municipalities have to pay more and more social assistance for those in need of care who can no longer afford to pay for their own care. This results from the latest figures from the Federal Statistical Office, which the Left Party has asked for and which are available to the editorial network Germany (RND). After that, the expenditures for the “help for care” rose in the past year by 530 million to now 4.3 billion euros. That is an increase of 14 percent compared to 2019.
One reason for this is the rapidly growing personal share for residents of nursing homes. The national average they are now at 2125 euros per month. In addition, the reform of parental maintenance that has been in force since 2020 is making itself felt. Social welfare offices can now only recoup the care costs of adult children if they have a gross income of more than 100,000 euros. According to earlier information from the federal government, up to 300 million euros in care costs were reclaimed from the authorities. However, the municipalities received no compensation for relieving the relatives. Some cities have therefore lodged a constitutional complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court.
Left parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch spoke of an explosion in care costs. “The desolate care policy of the federal government takes the municipalities out financially like a Christmas goose,” he criticized. Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach must quickly address the issue. Home residents and municipalities would have to be relieved. The chief executive of the German Association of Cities, Helmut Dedy, also called for rapid reforms. “People who are dependent on care in their old age must not slide into poverty and be dependent on welfare,” he told the RND. However, all previous attempts to reduce the burden on those in need of care have come to nothing. “The costs for nursing facilities and outpatient care will continue to rise in the next few years. More and more people will then be dependent on social assistance that the cities will pay,” complained Dedy.