German Government (20.01.2021) The importance of digitalisation in the health system and the need to make better use of the potentials offered by digitalisation has become particularly evident during the pandemic. In the future, it is to be possible to include digital applications, such as fall prevention apps or memory training apps, in regular nursing care. In the future, it will be possible to link digital applications with the electronic patient file. To this end, on Wednesday the Cabinet approved a bill; the draft Act for the Digital Modernisation of Care and Nursing.

BMAS (09.09.2020) The regulation was extended today until December 31, 2020 that people with disabilities can still have the additional need to finance lunch. This is important because lunch often cannot be taken in workshops for disabled people and comparable day-structuring measures due to the pandemic.

BMAS (09.09.2020) The federal government has approved the Social protection package I Simplified access to basic social security benefits. Due to the ongoing economic effects of the pandemic, the Federal Cabinet has now extended this relief until December 31, 2020. They include the temporary restriction of the asset assessment, the temporary recognition of the actual costs for accommodation and heating as well as simplifications in the approval of provisional benefits.

EU Reporter (27.08.2020) German coalition parties agreed on Tuesday (25 August) to extend measures to cushion the effects of the coronavirus crisis on Europe’s biggest economy at a cost of up to €10 billion, including prolonging a short-time work scheme and freezing insolvency rules, write Andreas Rinke, Holger Hansen and Madeline Chambers and Joseph Nasr in Berlin. 

Das Kurzarbeitergeld soll wegen der Coronakrise bis Ende Dezember 2021 und damit auf 24 Monate verlängert werden. Das haben die Spitzen von Union und SPD beschlossen.

World Economic Forum (20.08.2020) Germany is about to become the latest country to trial a universal basic income, starting a three-year study of how it affects the economy and recipients' well-being. As part of the study, 120 people will receive €1,200, or about $1,430, each month for three years — an amount just above Germany's poverty line — and researchers will compare their experiences with another group of 1,380 people who will not receive the payments.

IPE (02.07.2020) The German parliament, Bundestag, has approved the law for the introduction of the basic pension – Grundrente – from 1 January 2021. The Grundrente is paid in the form of a supplement to pensioners with at least 33 years of contributions to the statutory pension insurance based on periods of employment, child-rearing or care work.

Deutsche Rentenvrsicherung (02.07.2020) On July 2, Germany’s parliament approved a law that will introduce an income-tested basic pension (Grundrente) on January 1, 2021, to supplement the country’s social insurance old-age pension (beneficiaries should have at least 35 years of basic-pension years of contributions). This new program is intended to reduce the risk of old-age poverty among individuals who had below-average earnings in their working lives or spent considerable time outside the labor force.