The Federal Association of Private Providers of Social Services (bpa) has warned of severe consequences for care services and those in need of care, in light of the nursing care reform. “Well-functioning support structures for people in need of care and their families are being dismantled, practically overnight,” association president Bernd Meurer told the newspaper “Bild” (Monday edition). “More than 50,000 employees are facing termination, and millions of people in need of care will have to try to reorganize how their care needs are met.”
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According to the association, these concerns are based on a survey of its member companies. “We surveyed more than 2,000 nursing care services among our members; each service will have to lay off several employees who currently provide ‘relief services’—that is, assisting people in need of care within their own homes,” said Meurer. “For the time being, these individuals will end up unemployed.”
At the same time, Meurer appealed to Federal Health Minister Carsten Linnemann (CDU): “Minister Linnemann, focus on the real problems and let us continue our work undisturbed within the structures that are already functioning well.”
At the end of September, the Federal Cabinet initiated the first phase of a nursing care reform, intended to provide short-term relief for the acute underfunding of the long-term care insurance funds. A more comprehensive structural reform, designed to stabilize the nursing care system over the coming years, has been postponed until next year. The government intends to await the recommendations of an expert commission before proceeding. The new nursing care reform is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2027.
Author: AFP – kas – Translated by Blackout News
Sources: AFP Press Portal