The number of people in need of medical care in Germany rose much faster than expected last year, according to Health Minister Karl Lauterbach. “For demographic reasons, an increase of only around 50,000 people would have been expected in 2023. But the increase is actually over 360,000,” Lauterbach, a Social Democrat (SPD), told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland news agency on Monday. “We don’t yet understand exactly why this is the case,” Lauterbach said, but there is “an acute problem” in long-term care insurance. “The number of people in need of care has exploded in recent years,” said Lau…