Home care has become more and more expensive in recent years. Will a government cost damper bring the hoped-for relief?
Berlin/Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - The proportion of those in need of care in the home that has to be paid by the patient has continued to rise in Saxony-Anhalt and is only partially cushioned by new grants. In the first year in the home, an average of 1,662 euros per month was due out of pocket on July 1st - 108 euros more than on January 1st, according to an evaluation by the Association of Substitute Funds. The subsidies introduced at the beginning of the year increase with longer stays in the home and then dampen cost increases more strongly. Without subsidies, it would now be an average of 1700 euros as an additional payment in Saxony-Anhalt, 112 euros more than on January 1st.
On the one hand, the sums include the personal contribution for pure care and support. Unlike health insurance, long-term care insurance only bears part of the costs. For residents of the home, however, there are also costs for accommodation, meals and also for investments in the facilities. The personal contribution alone for pure care has now risen - still without subsidies - to an average of 766 euros, after it had been 672 euros on January 1st.
At the beginning of the year, however, new regulations of a care reform also came into force. In addition to the payments from the nursing care insurance fund, residents of the nursing home now receive a relief supplement that increases with the length of care. The personal contribution for pure care should fall by 5 percent in the first year in the home, by 25 percent in the second, by 45 percent in the third, and by 70 percent from the fourth year.
Reasons for the cost increases are increased wages and higher living and energy costs, as explained by the association. Because the subsidy does not relate to accommodation, food and investments.
The head of the Association of Substitute Health Insurance Funds, Ulrike Elsner, told the German Press Agency that the relief in personal contributions was only felt to a limited extent for those in need of care, especially in the first year. You will be marginalized by the increase in care fees. "With such high personal contributions, the need for care remains a risk of poverty," Elsner warned. A sustainable political solution to the problem as a whole is urgently needed. The federal states are also responsible for finally taking over the investment costs for care facilities. This would currently relieve those in need of care nationwide by an average of 469 euros per month.
