Status: 03/30/2023 08:26 a.m
The special regulation ends tomorrow: no more sick reports by phone. The possibility was introduced during the corona pandemic. If you want to avoid full waiting rooms, you still have an alternative.
The possibility of getting sick leave for mild cold symptoms without visiting the doctor’s office is coming to an end. The special regulation introduced in the Corona crisis by the Federal Joint Committee of doctors, clinics and health insurance companies only applies until Friday.
The chairman of the federal committee, Josef Hecken, told the dpa news agency that sick leave by telephone had fulfilled its function during the pandemic – as an “easily implementable way of distinguishing between mild and severe cases of illness and avoiding full waiting rooms”. In view of the current risk assessment by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), it is now being phased out. But you keep an eye on them and you can activate them again very quickly if necessary, Hecken said.
Sick leave via video consultation
“Regardless of the pandemic situation, insured persons can also receive sick leave during a video consultation – not just for mild respiratory diseases,” explained Hecken. There is therefore already the possibility that an insured person does not have to go to the doctor’s office for every illness. The prerequisite is, of course, that the inability to work can be clarified without an immediate physical examination.
Since the end of March 2020, it has been possible almost continuously to call in sick for mild respiratory problems. This should reduce unnecessary contacts and avoid corona infections. The Federal Joint Committee had extended the special regulation several times, most recently until March 31, 2023. At the beginning of February, the RKI downgraded the risk assessment for Germany from high to moderate.
