Care costs are threatening to explode: CDU warns of a dramatic situation!

Care costs are threatening to explode: CDU warns of a dramatic situation!

CDU politician Stefan Nacke recently commented on the tense financial situation of long-term care insurance in Germany. He warns of dramatically rising care costs, a topic that is increasingly becoming the focus of political and social discussion. The nursing care funds are confronted with a lack of money, which also affects the pension and health insurance companies. Rising contributions and possible reductions in benefits are seen as inevitable. Nacke sees the need for structural reforms in the nursing sector to counteract these challenges.

Demographic change is a central factor in rising care costs. More and more people are reaching an age where they are dependent on care, which is increasing the pressure on existing systems. In this context, Family Minister Karin Prien is planning financial support for caring relatives in order to ease the burden. Economist Veronika Grimm, on the other hand, calls for higher personal contributions while at the same time possible reductions in benefits, which fuels the debate about personal responsibility and financial overtaxing.

Financial challenges of social security

In a comprehensive analysis, the IGES Institute commissioned by DAK-Gesundheit shows that the contribution burden deviates from the “Social Guarantee 2021”. Since the beginning of 2025, the social security burden of income subject to contributions has been 42.5%, which represents an increase of 1.5 percentage points compared to 2024. Demographic change also plays a decisive role here, especially the retirement of the “baby boomer” generation, which leads to further increases in contributions.

The study by the IGES Institute predicts significant increases in contribution rates in social insurance, especially in health and nursing care insurance, by 2035. In the base scenario, the total social security contribution rate could be above 45% in 2029; in the unfavorable scenario even 47%. The contribution rate could reach almost 49% by 2035, which would further tighten the financial conditions for social insurance.

Urgent need for reform

A key point that Nacke addresses is the unequal treatment between home and inpatient care, which absolutely needs to be addressed. State support must also be questioned in this context: there is a shortfall of around 16 billion euros in statutory health and nursing care insurance, while the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs does not transfer around 10 billion euros enough to the statutory health insurance companies every year. These grievances illustrate the need to clearly distinguish benefits covered by contributions from benefits not covered by insurance and to introduce comprehensive reforms.

The acceptance of the welfare state should be increased through fair and transparent financing of social insurance. The current coalition agreement provides for a stabilization of contributions, which is seen as an important step. In this context, short, medium and long-term measures should be developed in a commission in order to effectively meet the challenges of rising costs and demographic changes.

Current developments in the area of ​​social insurance, especially in the care sector, require urgent measures to ensure financial stability and the quality of care in Germany. While political actors are working on solutions, it remains to be seen how the financial environment will develop in the coming years. This is also shown by the extensive analysis that DAK-Gesundheit and the IGES Institute have prepared to shed light on the development of contribution rates and to show possible countermeasures.

For more information about the challenges of long-term care insurance and social security contribution rates, visit Mercury and DAK.