Advocacy for increased financial commitment towards home care by the VdK president
Verena Bentele, the president of the social association VdK based in Berlin, recently made comments on Deutschlandfunk that highlighted a focus on improving home care services. Bentele emphasized the importance of investing in excellent conditions for home care, stating that doing so would allow people in need of care to live self-determined and in their familiar environment.
Bentele's comments received widespread attention and sparked discussions among policymakers and care providers. The emphasis on home care comes amidst growing concerns about the quality and accessibility of home care services.
While the current plans for increasing investments in home care in Berlin and Germany focus mainly on addressing rising costs and reforming long-term care financing, specific large-scale new funding targeting home care remain limited and face significant challenges.
The federal government has committed to injecting €2 billion into long-term care insurance in 2025 and 2026 to provide temporary relief for care costs. However, these funds are not earmarked specifically for home care services. Health Minister Warken aims to set up a reform commission to design a long-term strategic plan for Germany’s care system, but the emphasis remains on creating a comprehensive reform framework incorporating tax revenues and equitable financing rather than on large direct new funding programs solely for home care at present.
Experts propose reforms such as incorporating tax revenues into the care system funding or increasing individual contributions, especially on higher incomes, including capital and rental income, to ensure sustainability beyond temporary funding boosts. However, these reforms are still under debate and may take time to implement.
More broadly, Germany’s government and private sectors are mobilizing a large investment push—for example, the “Made for Germany” alliance pledging €631 billion in investments over the next three years—but these commitments primarily target infrastructure, digital, climate, and industrial sectors rather than home care specifically.
On the housing side, some investment firms plan conversions of commercial properties into residential units in Berlin, which may indirectly support housing for carers or care recipients, but these are not direct investments in home care services per se.
The home care sector faces challenges including the high costs of training and maintaining care staff, labor shortages, and rising demand linked to Germany’s aging population. These issues require comprehensive policy action beyond temporary financial injections.
Despite these challenges, Bentele did not discuss any potential challenges or obstacles in implementing her proposed investments in home care. Instead, she urged for more investments in home care, believing that doing so is crucial for improving the quality and accessibility of home care services and enabling people to live self-determined lives in their familiar environments.
Bentele's advocacy for home care investments is consistent with her role as the president of the social association VdK, which is based in Berlin. Her comments serve as a call to action for policymakers and care providers to prioritize home care services and work towards creating a sustainable and equitable care system for all.
- To address the growing concerns about the quality and accessibility of home care services, Bentele advocates for more investments in home care, believing that it is crucial for promoting healthcare and workplace-wellness, enhancing health-and-wellness, and fostering fitness-and-exercise by providing self-determined living environments for people in need of care.
- Despite the challenges in the home care sector, such as high staff training costs, labor shortages, and rising demand due to Germany's aging population, Bentele urges policymakers and care providers to prioritize home care services to create a sustainable and equitable care system, ultimately promoting health-and-wellness, workplace-wellness, and fitness-and-exercise opportunities for those in need.
