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The German Social Long-Term Care Insurance: Structure and Reform Options

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Author Info
Melanie Arntz () (ZEW Mannheim)
Ralf Sacchetto () (ZEW Mannheim)
Alexander Spermann () (ZEW Mannheim, University of Freiburg and IZA Bonn)
Susanne Steffes () (ZEW Mannheim)
Sarah Widmaier () (ZEW Mannheim)

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

Regarding social needs in Germany long-term care is an important issue due to an ageing population. Shrinking social networks are leading to a greater need for a public long-term care system. In 1995 the social long-term care insurance was introduced in Germany. In recent years some drawbacks of the social long-term care insurance structure turned out to be in need of reform: While health insurance is a fully comprehensive system, long-term care insurance only provides limited cover. Therefore, insurance funds have an incentive to shift some services from health care to long-term care insurance. Additionally, there is no free competition on the long-term care market because care packages included in the in-kind transfers are negotiated (with respect to services and prices) between insurance funds and professional care providers. Finally, the financial situation of the German social long-term care insurance is tight. While in the first years after introduction the net results of revenues and expenditures were positive they have been negative since 1999 which is due to an increasing number of benefit recipients. Therefore, we discuss several reform options which have been proposed in order to overcome the financial and structural problems. Suggestions for the income side include the introduction of fixed premiums, a fully funded system, a private insurance, or a citizens’ insurance. The introduction of individual budgets is the most popular option for the outcome side. A social experiment is under way in order to evaluate the impact of so-called matching transfers.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 2625.

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Length: 29 pages
Date of creation: Feb 2007
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2625

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Postal: IZA, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany
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Postal: IZA, Margard Ody, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany
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Related research
Keywords: long-term care; cash transfers; in-kind transfers; social experiments;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Production
I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Spermann, Alexander & Arntz, Melanie, 2003. "Wie lässt sich die gesetzliche Pflegeversicherung mit Hilfe personengebundener Budgets reformieren?," ZEW Discussion Papers 03-58, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  2. Jasmin Häcker & Bernd Raffelhüschen, 2004. "Denn sie wussten, was sie taten: zur Reform der Sozialen Pflegeversicherung," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 73(1), pages 158-174.
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Annamaria Simonazzi, 2008. "Care regimes and national employment models," Working Papers 113, Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Public Economics. [Downloadable!]
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This page was last updated on 2009-12-7.

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