Nursing care insurance
Nursing care funds expect a deficit of one billion euros in 2026
May 23, 2026 – 8:52 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The reform of nursing care insurance is one of the major reform projects of the black-red coalition. In the middle of the debate, dramatic figures about the financial situation of the health insurance companies burst out.
According to the information, the federal government’s loan totaling 3.2 billion euros in 2026 is already included. The real result for this year is an expected deficit of 4.2 billion euros, the association explained. “The hut is on fire in nursing care insurance and we urgently have to get started on putting it out,” said GKV boss Oliver Blatt to “Spiegel”.
Federal government is working on reform
“Care in Germany lives on credit”
According to the GKV figures, total nursing care insurance funds will only be 4.3 billion euros at the end of this year, of which 4.2 billion euros will then be debts to the federal government. “Nursing in Germany lives on credit,” warned association boss Blatt. The government must “turn things around now, otherwise the financial problems will become unmanageable next year.”
The association estimated the additional financial needs of nursing care insurance for the coming year at around 10 billion euros. It was said that an additional requirement of 7.5 billion euros is expected to finance ongoing care costs. To ensure that long-term care insurance is always fully operational even in months with low income, additional funds amounting to 2.5 billion euros are needed for the so-called compensation fund.
