Coalition Dispute over Care Costs: CSU Care Commissioner Staffler Rejects Abolition of the 100,000-Euro Threshold

The background to the dispute is the financial situation of the statutory long-term care insurance. The CSU politician warned that more than 20 billion euros would have to be saved in the next two years alone to keep the care insurance operational – and this with an annual volume of around 70 billion euros. The care insurance thus faces a severe consolidation task.

Against this backdrop, the Federal Ministry of Health, which is led by the CDU, is planning a series of changes with the Care Reorganization Act. This explicitly includes the repeal of the so-called Relatives Relief Act, i.e., the abolition of the 100,000-euro threshold. Until now, adult children who earn less than 100,000 euros gross per year have not had to step in for their parents' care costs if their parents are dependent on social welfare.

Position of the Care Commissioner

Staffler described the planned removal of the threshold as wrong. "Ich hielte es für falsch, die Grenze komplett wieder zu streichen", she said. She also pointed to the emotional and organizational burden on caregiving relatives. It is therefore a matter of a "faire Lastenverteilung", said the CSU politician. She did not want to commit to a specific alternative income threshold and referred to the ongoing debate within the coalition.

At the same time, Staffler argued that children are already burdened by their parents' need for help. "Wir müssen anerkennen, dass die Kinder durch die Hilfebedürftigkeit ihrer Eltern ohnehin belastet werden", she said. The appropriate level of exempt income should now be discussed within the coalition. The reform plans are thus controversial even within the Union, as the CSU, as the CDU's sister party, is setting its own accents.

The financial impact on affected families is considerable. Recently, those in need of care nationwide had to pay an average of 3,245 euros per month out of their own pocket for a care home place in the first year. Warken is sticking to her plans despite criticism from the ranks of the coalition and the opposition. She is banking on a comprehensive care reform that also affects other areas such as private care provision.

Impact on Families and Municipalities

Alongside the income threshold, criticism is also focused on the previous "Pflege-Bahr", i.e., the state-subsidized private supplementary care insurance. "Der bisherige „Pflege-Bahr" ist ein Flop", said Staffler. The Care Commissioner is calling for a relaunch of private care provision. At the same time, she considers it necessary that municipalities be relieved, as they currently step in when those in need of care cannot cover the care home costs themselves.

Specifically, the social welfare office initially steps in with "Hilfe zur Pflege" when those in need of care cannot pay the care home costs. In these cases, municipalities have so far been able to access the children's income, provided they exceed the threshold of 100,000 euros. With the planned abolition of this threshold, the circle of those liable for costs would expand significantly, which would relieve the social budgets of cities and municipalities but additionally burden adult children.

Responsibility within the Coalition

"Wir stehen vor einer Aufgabe, die einer Quadratur des Kreises gleicht", said the CSU politician with regard to the balancing act between the financial stabilization of care insurance and the protection of relatives. "Mit Klein-Klein kommen Sie da nicht weiter. Alle müssen ihren Beitrag leisten." At the same time, she emphasized that the goal is "dass die Menschen die Pflege erhalten, die sie tatsächlich benötigen".

However, responsibility for a change in the legal regulation lies not with the Health Ministry, but with the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Ministry of Labour. Labour Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD) would therefore be obliged to support the reform plans. The SPD, as the coalition partner, had already previously expressed criticism of Warken's plans. Now resistance is being added from within the Union parties' own ranks.

The Care Commissioner also pointed to positive effects that the reform could have. "Ich bin zuversichtlich, dass wir die hohe Belastung pflegender Angehöriger verringern können", said Staffler. However, she made clear that this can only succeed if the financial risks for families remain calculable. The reform must not lead to caregiving relatives getting into financial difficulties due to their parents' care costs.

History of the 100,000-Euro Threshold

The 100,000-euro threshold was introduced with the Relatives Relief Act of the then black-red government in 2019, and it came into force in 2020. At the time, the then Federal Social Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) had justified the law by saying that need for care is emotionally and organizationally burdensome and that relatives should at least be protected from incalculable financial risks. With the planned repeal, this protective function would, in the eyes of many critics, cease to exist.

Criticism of Warken's reform plans had already been voiced from the opposition as well as from social and welfare associations prior to Staffler's statement. They view the plans as unbalanced and fear a shift of burdens away from the care insurance towards families. SPD politicians had also expressed skepticism, as had various social associations, which point to the growing number of people in need of care in Germany.

The coalition must now find a compromise that stabilizes care insurance, relieves municipalities, and at the same time limits the burden on relatives. The debate over the appropriate level of the income threshold is likely to become one of the central contentious issues in the coalition negotiations on the draft law in the coming weeks. It is certain that there is no unified view within the black-red government on the right course.

Meanwhile, the Care Commissioner points out that private care provision must be restructured. The current subsidy via the Pflege-Bahr amounts to a maximum of 5 euros per month – an amount that, in the assessment of many experts, is not sufficient to cushion rising care costs. Staffler had previously called for a fundamental reform of private care provision, without committing to concrete figures.