A senior CDU lawmaker says homeowners should use housing wealth before receiving state-funded nursing-home support.
A senior lawmaker from Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU has proposed requiring Germans to use their homes to pay for elderly care, triggering a political row over social welfare amid the country’s mounting fiscal pressures.
The proposal by Albert Stegemann, deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, would tighten eligibility rules for public assistance with nursing-home costs, potentially requiring homeowners to draw on property wealth before receiving state support.
“Those who own assets must first use their own assets, including their home, before the community pays,” Stegemann told Bild on Thursday.
Germany’s long-term care system works in three stages. Mandatory insurance covers part of nursing-home costs, with patients expected to pay the remainder from their pension, savings or other assets. If those funds are exhausted, state social welfare assistance covers the gap.
Stegemann argues that homeowners should be required to draw on housing wealth before gaining access to that final layer of taxpayer-funded support.
The proposal comes as Berlin prepares a major overhaul of long-term care financing. Health Minister Nina Warken has warned that Germany’s statutory care insurance system could face deficits of more than €22 billion over the next two years unless reforms are adopted.
The debate is unfolding against the backdrop of mounting strain on Germany’s welfare model. Europe’s largest economy has endured years of stagnation following the energy shock caused by the Ukraine conflict. Although Germany officially emerged from recession in 2025, growth is forecast at just 0.5% in 2026 after a new Middle East-driven energy crisis dealt another blow to its industrial sector.
Nevertheless, Germany is spending heavily on both Ukraine and its own military buildup. It has committed more than €96 billion in military and civilian aid for Kiev since 2022, while announcing a domestic €100 billion rearmament drive.
Stegemann’s remarks immediately drew criticism from coalition partners and welfare organizations, who argue the proposal could effectively force elderly people to liquidate family homes before receiving assistance.
SPD health expert Christos Pantazis warned that many families fear “losing their home or their life’s work,” and called the idea “absurd.” Opposition Greens accused the government of pursuing socially irresponsible policies.
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“Those who own assets must first use their own assets, including their home, before the community pays,” Stegemann told Bild on Thursday.
So why work hard and pay taxes, when someones life’s work, their personal wealth, can be stolen by the very state they helped pay for, in the first place. This sends a very bad message.
Oh…kinda like Lex Luxon demanding that those who are on the Autism Spectrum sell their homes if they wish to continue to receive benefits for their NEUROLOGICAL UNCHANGING AND PERMANENT CONDITION!
Where then are those on the ASD supposed to live after the sale of their home?
THIS IS A VIOLATION OF THE HUMAN RIGHT TO OWN A HOME, AND TO LIVE THERE IN PEACE WITHOUT IMPOSING ILLEGAL AND SURREPTITIOUS RESTRICTIONS ON LEGAL, LAWFUL AND RIGHTFUL BENEFITS due to home opwnership.
This is pushing the Autistic OUT THE DOOR OF THEIR OWN HOMES with Lex Luxon demanding that they support themselves from the proceeds of the sale of their homes.
Where do they go when there is a State Housing Shortage?
Many Landlords will not rent to families who have an Autistic family member…
This is a plan to substitute house sale proceeds for lawful benefits that the Autistic are legally entitled to, and then after that, you can et that the Zionist-Bankster WEF & WHO (who Lex Luxon works for…) will then begin a plan of euthanasia for the homeless Autistic Populations, just as they are doing in North Amerika, the Netherlands, and in parts of Asia…