“A multi-billion euro shortfall in long-term care insurance – what critics warned about before its introduction is now coming to pass,” Blackout News
“Long-term care insurance is reaching a critical threshold because expenditures are growing faster than the funding base. The average out-of-pocket cost for nursing home care already exceeds €3,000 per month, while at the same time, the insurance funds are accumulating deficits. This is precisely the scenario that critics warned about before 1995: A partial-benefit system is being subjected to demographic pressure and experiencing a cost dynamic that can hardly be stemmed without political resistance. (nzz: 02.01.26) Even before its launch in 1995, critics predicted a clear chain reaction, because a partial-benefit system can never cover the full costs. They anticipated rising out-of-pocket expenses as wages, prices, and the need for care increased. Furthermore, they warned of the demographic impact, as more and more benefit recipients are facing a relatively smaller pool of contributors. What sounded like theory back then now seems like a user manual for the present. The long-term care insurance fund pays, but the bill often still falls on those affected.”
LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform:
The Center for Long-Term Care Reform did warn early on that Germany’s new LTC entitlement program would face critical economic problems going forward. See LTCI in Germany (August 2002) and Don’t Look to Germany for a Long-Term Care Model (October 20023). It looks more than ever like the USA will not follow Germany down this failing path. But will we find a better one? To make sense of what ails LTC, read the Paragon Health Institute’s “Long-Term Care: The Problem” and “Long-Term Care: The Solution” and watch this “virtual LTC event” featuring age wave visionary Ken Dychtwald and leading LTC researchers. To find ample private funds for LTC, check out “Medicaid’s $100+ Billion Leak.” For what not to do, see “Medi-Cal-amity: California’s Reckless Expansion of Medicaid Long-Term Care to the Affluent.” Much more on long-term care here.