Bundestag election: This is in the Greens’ election program

It’s election season. After the SPD and the Union, the Greens are now also disseminating details of their election program to the public. One point: In the future, the Greens want to use the capital market, similar to the FDP, to stabilize the pension fund and slow down the increase in contributions.

The health insurance companies should be relieved of the burden by financing non-insurance services more through taxes, so that the contribution increases for employers and insured persons are mitigated.

Various media report on the draft election program; excerpts from it are also available to the dpa agency. What’s inside?

Pension – mix of FDP and SPD

A “citizens’ fund” is to be formed from loans and the federal government’s own resources and will invest, among other things, in European and German start-ups and growth companies. It should take sustainability and climate protection criteria into account. “We will use the resulting income to strengthen low and medium pensions, which will particularly support women and people in eastern Germany. “We also want more people to benefit from private pension provision than before,” the program says.

The FDP had pushed through the stock pension model in the traffic light coalition, with which part of the pension finances should also be invested in the capital market. However, the planned reform was no longer implemented.

Like the SPD, the Greens advocate stabilizing the pension level at 48 percent of average working income in the draft program. They are sticking to retirement at 67, but want to create more incentives for older people to work longer. Furthermore, the party would like to bring MPs and “prospectively civil servants” into statutory pensions. The Greens also want to include self-employed people who are not otherwise insured. The party speaks of a “first step on the way to citizens’ insurance”.

Relief for statutory health and nursing care insurance

Statutory health insurance doctors should increase the number of consultation hours for those with statutory health insurance so that patients can receive appointments more quickly. The Greens want to provide more support to underserved areas. For rural regions – especially in eastern Germany – there should be additional programs for community health nurses, formerly called community nurses, and “medicine on wheels”. In addition to statutory health insurance, private health insurance companies should also have to bear the costs of the hospital reform. Non-insurance benefits such as contributions for citizens’ benefit recipients should be financed more appropriately by the state.

Career family leave should be made easier and more flexible. The Greens want to improve access to day care and expand offerings.

To finance this, in addition to those with statutory health insurance, those with private insurance should also be included in the financial equalization of the health and care system. “We will reform the contribution assessment and, for example, also use capital income to finance our health and care system,” it says in the paper.

Fight against organized crime

“The fight against organized crime is a priority for us,” write the Greens. The federal and state security authorities should therefore set up a “Joint Organized Crime Center”. The party wants to expand existing authorities into a powerful financial police force in order to combat money laundering.

“We have to hit the criminal where it hurts – with the money. That’s why we have to make it easier to confiscate assets that have been obtained through criminal activities.” Regarding the fight against terrorism, it says: “We will check whether the security authorities have all the necessary powers to combat terrorism effectively.”