Germany Moves to Ban Online Sick Notes as Part of Broader Health Prevention Push
Published on 07/17/2026 at 16:44 | Redaktion boerse-global.deGermans accustomed to skipping the doctor's office when ill may soon be forced to present a paper sick note from day one. Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) on Thursday defended plans to ban online sick-leave certificates obtained without an in-person consultation, and hinted that telephone-based certifications could also be eliminated. Instead, patients would need to submit an official "Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung" starting from the first day of absence – a rule already common in many workplaces but not yet universally required.
The crackdown on remote sick notes is one piece of a larger "health offensive" Warken announced alongside structural changes to the Social Code (Sozialgesetzbuch). At the center of the initiative are mandatory, digitally sent invitations for preventive check-ups across all age groups. For children, the focus rests on the U10 exam for primary-school pupils and the J1 screening for adolescents, both of which will trigger automatic invites in the future. For older patients, a new "Check-up 60 plus" is planned as part of the upcoming long-term care reform.
A "paradigm shift" in preventive care
Klaus Reinhardt, president of the German Medical Association (Bundesärztekammer), hailed the approach as a "Paradigmenwechsel" – a paradigm shift – that must sustainably boost the population's health literacy. The offensive builds on the Prevention Act of 2015 and aims to strengthen early detection, care accompaniment, and workplace health promotion. Small and medium-sized enterprises are targeted for extra support to expand their prevention offerings.
Statutory health insurers (GKV) spent approximately 734 million euros on prevention services in 2025, according to Oliver Blatt of the GKV-Spitzenverband. He stressed that health promotion is "a task for society as a whole" and welcomed the cross-ministerial cooperation Warken pledged. That cooperation is already visible in the Finance Ministry, which is simultaneously drafting a sugar tax on sweetened beverages.
Warken made clear that the prevention push demands close coordination with other departments, especially as the government seeks to embed efficiency and preventive culture into everyday life. The combination of mandatory in-person sick notes, expanded check-up invitations, and a sugar tax reflects a shift toward a more interventionist public-health approach in Germany.
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