The black-red coalition aims to abolish the telephone-based sick note. Medical professionals strongly criticize the move.
epd | In the debate about the level of sick leave, general practitioners warn the black-red coalition against reintroducing the telephonic sick note. “All previous analyses by the health insurers confirm that telephone sick notes do not lead to higher abuse of sick notes,” said the chairman of the General Practitioners Association, Markus Beier, to the Editorial Network Germany (Wednesday).
“Whoever abolishes the telephone-based sick note bears the responsibility that in the future countless patients will have to drag themselves to the practices unnecessarily,” warned the physician. He spoke of a proven instrument for reducing bureaucracy. “It relieves our practices and protects our patients from infections in the waiting room,” he said.
Facts Instead of “Employer Fairy Tales”
The association chief accused employers of having no solid basis for their demand to abolish telephone sick notes. “There remains only the hope that politics sticks to the facts, rather than falling for the employer fairy tale,” he said.
Beier clarified that there are clear rules for the telephone sick note. Patients must be personally known in the practice. The sick note may also be valid for a maximum of five days.
The debate was recently fueled by remarks from Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU). He had criticized Germany’s high level of sick leave over the weekend and stated: “One of the causes is certainly the easy approval of telephonic sick notes.”
