German cabinet approves long-term care insurance reform

BERLIN, Sept 30 (Reuters) — Germany's cabinet approved a bill on Wednesday to stabilise the long-term care insurance system, following days of coalition wrangling over the planned overhaul. The legislation, put forward by Health Minister Carsten Linnemann, was approved after the Social Democrats sought changes in high-level coalition talks, the government said in a statement. Further details were not immediately available. "It is the first important step toward stabilizing the long-term care system,” Linnemann said, averting a looming deficit of €8 billion. The number of people requiring long-term care has tripled over the past 20 years to around six million. A government source said the cabinet had backed a stabilisation package for long-term care and that a separate decision was expected next week to establish a commission of experts tasked with swiftly drawing up structural reforms. Its work its scheduled to begin in October. The SPD had pushed for measures beyond spending cuts, arguing that the system needed more fundamental changes. (Reporting by Christian Kraemer, Markus Wacket and Andreas Rinke, writing by Maria Martinez; Editing by Nick Zieminski) ((maria.martinez@thomsonreuters.com)