In future, insured persons and pensioners should be able to do more digitally with their pension insurance. “We want to significantly advance our digital customer service,” said Gundula Roßbach, President of the German Pension Insurance Association, of the dpa in Berlin. “During the pandemic, we noticed that many had switched to our digital services.” Already in the spring lockdown, telephone and digital advice picked up significantly more momentum, said Roßbach: “That has great potential.”

Simple and secure authentication Even since the current lockdown began in mid-December, according to the German Pension Insurance Association, our own advice centers in Berlin, Brandenburg and Gera can be reached by phone. If a concern cannot be clarified by phone, it will be checked whether a personal consultation can be arranged. For example, pension or rehab applications have long been made electronically. You can also request your own insurance history, and there is also an online pension calculator.

Roßbach said: “If, for example, an insured person submits an application to us digitally, as much as possible should already be included The data we have available must be filled in so that you only have to add the missing data yourself. ” The pension insurance is currently working intensively on simpler and more secure access for the insured and pensioners. “The first important step will be simple and secure authentication,” announced Roßbach.

Gradual digitization of the public sector This means that pension insurance joins numerous digitization efforts for insured persons and citizens. In the health sector, insured persons can save and retrieve health data such as medical reports and x-rays on the new electronic patient file. Since Friday there has been an entitlement to receive a corresponding one for smartphones from the health insurance company for voluntary use. Patients can initially use them for themselves. The practices should be connected by July 1st.

The Online Access Act (OZG) of 2017 digitization also provides for hundreds of federal and state administration services. By the end 2022 it should be so far with 575 such services. 315 Administrative services are already available online. However, that only means that they are offered in at least one municipality. The German Association of Towns and Municipalities and the Association of Officials dbb repeatedly blamed the lack of personnel capacities and financial resources for the fact that digitization in the public sector did not advance faster.

(hob)