Abstract Social long-term care insurance (LTC) has a twofold financing problem: a rising contribution rate and rising co-payments. Without measures to limit them, co-payments in the first year of nursing home care would rise to more than € 5,500 by 2035 – with a social assistance recipient rate of more than 44 %. In order to limit co-payments as promised in the coalition agreement, the federal-state working group on LTC reform is focusing on two options: benefit indexation and an absolute co-payment cap. However, only the second option is suitable for achieving the desired goals. This will result in additional LTC expenditure, which will require refinancing measures if the contribution rate is not to increase.
Heinz Rothgang (Sun,) studied this question.