From July 2025: Care leave will be easier and more financially flexible!

From July 2025: Care leave will be easier and more financially flexible!

From July 1, 2025, the regulation on preventive and short-term care for people in need of care in Germany will be significantly simplified. These changes are part of the Care Support and Relief Act, which was passed in the Bundestag on May 26, 2023. The aim is to make access to care services easier and reduce bureaucratic burdens. This will be achieved by introducing a common annual amount of 3,539 euros for both types of care, available from this date, as Lokalkompass.de reported.

A key point of the reform is the elimination of the requirement for pre-care leave. The relief budget can be claimed once the level of care has been determined, which means that people in need of care can receive help more quickly. Respite care can now be claimed for up to eight weeks per year, whereas previously only a period of six weeks was permitted.

Improvements for care allowance and applications

Another advantage of this new regulation is the increase in half of the care allowance, which is now paid for up to eight weeks per year. This regulation also applies to relatives who provide preventive care. You can now receive double the care allowance, which was previously only possible at 1.5 times. Example amounts for different levels of care are: 696.78 euros for care level 2 and 1,986.71 euros for care level 5, like pflege.de points out.

It should be noted that the costs for preventive and short-term care must still be applied for. The new common annual amount does not represent a stand-alone service. Applications should be submitted to the care insurance fund early on, as billing is still carried out retrospectively. It is also important to keep invoices so that you can accurately account for expenses. Unused amounts from preventive or short-term care can be used beyond this date until July 1, 2025.

Summary of the new regulations

• Gemeinsamer Jahresbetrag: 3.539 Euro ab 1. Juli 2025 für Pflegegrade ab 2.
• Verhinderungspflege: Bis zu acht Wochen pro Jahr möglich.
• Hälftiges Pflegegeld: Bis zu acht Wochen zahlbar; Verwandte erhalten das doppelte Pflegegeld.
• Anträge müssen bei der Pflegekasse gestellt werden, Kostenerstattung erfolgt nachträglich.

These comprehensive measures are part of a progressive reform of care services in Germany and show the focus on supporting people in need of care and their relatives. These innovations will make the administration of care services easier, which could significantly improve the quality of life of those affected.