German federal government plan to suspend 2028 long-term care benefit increase, Digi Mart USA News (Germany): Care recipients were scheduled to receive higher benefits from January 1, 2028. However, the federal government intends to suspend the adjustment already provided for in law.
Under the plan, care benefits would only rise annually from 2029 under a new procedure.
For people cared for at home and their relatives, a planned relief would therefore fall away. The cut is not yet decided.
The federal cabinet adopted a draft bill on September 30, 2026, which the Bundestag is scheduled to debate for the first time on November 5.
The 2028 increase remains in the law
Under current law, insurance benefit amounts rise on January 1, 2028. Section 30 of Book XI of the Social Code provides for an adjustment based on the cumulative rise in core inflation, meaning prices excluding food and energy.
The last three calendar years with corresponding data available at the time of adjustment are considered.
Under the current rule, however, the increase may not exceed the rise in gross wages and salaries per employee over the same period. No fixed percentage for 2028 has therefore been set.
Until the law is changed, the existing date remains in place.
A different calculation would apply from 2029
The cabinet draft provides for annual adjustments on January 1, beginning in 2029. The basis would be an average of core inflation rates over the last three available calendar years, described in the legal text as a geometric mean.
Average wage growth would also limit the increase.
This would not merely shift the payment date. The planned adjustment for cumulative price increases would be replaced by a recurring annual adjustment.
The draft does not provide for back payment of the increase omitted for 2028. The Health Ministry presents the annual adjustment as a long-term gain in reliability.
The current law, however, contains no permanently recurring adjustment mechanism after the 2028 step, and the transition would still disadvantage beneficiaries because the already planned increase would initially be dropped.
Insurance would spend about 4.7 billion euros less in 2028
The federal government justifies the step by the strained finances of long-term care insurance. According to its calculations, without countermeasures a deficit of about 7.6 billion euros would arise in 2027, and more than 15 billion euros is cited for 2028.
The financial overview of the cabinet draft lists 4.7 billion euros in reduced spending for 2028 under the item “elimination of the 2028 adjustment.” This is a federal government estimate for long-term care insurance as a whole, not for cash benefits alone.
For those affected, a missing adjustment is noticeable even if the paid amount stays unchanged. When services and other necessary costs rise, the same money buys less.
A later increase does not eliminate this interim burden.
Current cash benefit amounts
Nursing care cash benefits are paid from care level 2 when home care is adequately ensured by the person themselves. The care insurance fund pays the benefit to the person in need of care, who may pass it on as recognition to relatives who provide care.
Since January 2025, the following monthly amounts apply. They remain the basis of current entitlement and are not a forecast for benefits after a possible reform.
Care level 2: 347 euros per month. Care level 3: 599 euros per month.
Care level 4: 800 euros per month. Care level 5: 990 euros per month.
Those who also use an outpatient care service through long-term care insurance may combine cash benefits with care-in-kind benefits. The cash benefit is then calculated proportionally, so the full table amount is not available in every care situation.
Not everything would remain unchanged until 2029
The planned suspension of the adjustment should not be confused with a complete standstill of all care benefits. The draft also provides for a restructuring of home care, under which previously separate benefits would be combined into budgets.
Cash benefits would in future be paid within a higher relief budget, which would also finance privately organized replacement care and consumable care aids. A higher monthly amount would therefore not automatically mean additional relief of the same size.
Families must account for replacement care
This is particularly clear in the case of substitute care for relatives who provide care. Those who regularly need support when the main caregiver is unavailable must include these costs in their planning.
Under the planned restructuring, it would depend on what type of replacement care is needed and from which budget it may be financed.
A larger freely available monthly payment and the elimination of a separate existing entitlement can have very different financial effects. For household planning, it is therefore advisable to list the help actually needed, including regular support, substitute care periods and recurring expenses.
Only then should one consider which benefits the care insurance fund covers today and how the final law would change them.
Existing entitlements should continue to be used
The cabinet decision alone does not change ongoing cash benefit payments. The federal government explicitly notes that the proposed changes do not yet apply.
Care recipients therefore do not need to file a new application because of the announced suspension. Those unsure whether existing benefits adequately cover their needs can use care counseling.
Under Section 7a of Book XI of the Social Code and the statutory conditions, there is an entitlement to individual counseling and assistance, during which existing support and possible care gaps can be reviewed together.
For new financial commitments, neither a specific 2028 increase nor the announced new budgets should be treated as secured income, since both points are still under discussion. The enacted provisions and their respective start dates will be decisive.
Parliamentary deliberation begins in November
The Bundestag has scheduled the first reading of the Care Restructuring Act for November 5, 2026. The draft would then be referred to committees.
The planned cancellation of the 2028 increase therefore remains part of an ongoing legislative process and is not yet a binding change. For care recipients, the further deliberations concern not only a later adjustment date but also how much support remains after restructuring and whether it sustains the care required.
