Health insurance companies will soon be allowed to call without asking

New regulation

Health insurance companies will soon be able to call – is there pressure on sick pay?

Anyone who receives sick pay could soon receive a call from their health insurance company. An objection should only be possible after the first conversation.

When your phone rings next year, your health insurance company could be on the other end of the line. What sounds harmless has a serious background – because the conversation can have unpleasant consequences for those receiving sick pay.

The calls are made possible by a planned change in the law. To date, the following applies: A health insurance company is only allowed to contact recipients of sickness benefit about topics such as reintegration or ability to work if the insured person has expressly agreed to this contact beforehand. As a rule, a call from the cashier is not a problem. However, social associations have repeatedly reported in the past that those receiving sick pay were put under pressure by health insurance employees to quit their jobs, apply for a pension or return to work early.

The previous consent requirement was therefore an important protective right for the insured. However, the planned Statutory Health Insurance Contribution Stabilization Act provides for the obligation to give consent to be replaced by a right to object.

This means: Health insurance companies will soon be able to contact their insured persons in writing, electronically and also by telephone if they receive sickness benefit or are about to receive it. Only in this conversation do the health insurance companies have to inform the insured that they can prohibit further contact. “In the event of an objection, further contact is not permitted unless it is absolutely necessary to fulfill a legal obligation,” says the draft law.

The change in the law is justified by improving advice from health insurance companies. At the same time, financial interests come into play: the payment of sick pay is one of the largest cost blocks for statutory health insurance companies: the health insurance companies paid around 21.6 billion euros for this last year.

The new regulation was rejected by the social association VdK. “This change would represent a significant deterioration in patient protection,” said VdK President Verena Bentele to t-online. “Under the new regulation, health insurance companies could put psychological and legal pressure on sick pay recipients over the phone in order to achieve a quick return to work.” Many insured people are in a very vulnerable phase while receiving sickness benefit. “Unprepared calls from the health insurance company only create additional psychological pressure in this situation.”

The Statutory Health Insurance Contribution Stabilization Act is still a draft. The Bundestag is still pending approval, so changes are still possible.