Everything employees need to know at a glance

Before these can begin, a number of extensive processes must be completed in advance. These include, for example, companies implementing the necessary interfaces, registering their workforces for CareFlex, and clarifying legal issues, such as data protection. Consequently, the parties within the organisation may need to amend or conclude new framework and works agreements where necessary.

Once employers have registered their staff for CareFlex Chemie and the framework conditions for advising employees have been clarified with the companies, the employees will be informed. Anyone with a registered company email address can, if they wish, then receive a welcome email from the employee portal containing their CareFlex employee ID. Employees can use this to register on the portal, create their own profile and book a personal consultation appointment. Employees who do not have a company email address on file will receive their login details for the portal via their employer.

You will find all the relevant information in this guide.

In total, around 1,000 certified CareFlex Chemie care advisers from IGBCE Bonusassekuranz and its two partner organisations are available to provide standardised advice. During the consultation, the individual needs of employees and their family members are assessed, taking regional circumstances into account. On this basis, the advisers draw up appropriate proposals.

If employees have already taken out private care insurance, we recommend that they bring this along to the consultation for review.

If family members are to be included in the cover, they must be present at the consultation. This is necessary because policies are taken out digitally without the policyholder’s signature, and the health questionnaire must be answered truthfully and bindingly in front of the adviser. This also serves to protect the advisers, as they are personally liable for the advice they provide.

To prepare for the consultation, you can find additional information, such as details on statutory care benefits or the health questionnaire, in the employee portal under the heading ‘Information on CareFlex Chemie’.

Essentially, this involves analysing the employee’s personal circumstances and the resulting financial shortfall in care provision, as well as those of any family members who wish to be included in the cover. Following the consultation, which lasts around an hour, everyone can make arrangements for long-term care tailored to their individual needs.

Yes, for several reasons. Firstly, the personal contributions required in the event of needing care vary from region to region. Full-time residential care at a selected facility in Mannheim at care level 1 costs €2,833.35 per month; in Schifferstadt, for example, a personal contribution of €2,498.12 would be required (source: AOK). It is also important to clarify whether outpatient cover is sufficient or whether inpatient cover makes more sense – for example, for single people or working professionals living far from their families.

Once you’ve registered on the staff portal, you can log in. On the dashboard, there’s an ‘Appointments’ tile. You can easily book consultation appointments there. So, 1. register, 2. log in, 3. book an appointment.

1. Important: The browsers you use should be up to date. The following browsers are currently supported by the portal: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari
2. Tablets, such as the Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy, Huawei MatePad, etc., or any type of smartphone cannot currently be used for video consultations via the portal. Smartphones and tablets can be used for all other functions, such as registration, reading and saving documents.
3. Each system has separate settings for video playback and audio. In most cases, checking your system’s <<Control Panel>> will help
4. Sometimes the internet connection is lost or the connection is poor. There can be various reasons for this. We have summarised the most common causes on page 2. We recommend using a LAN cable. This ensures a stable and good connection.
5. Please check whether a firewall in your home or on company devices might be causing the disruption.
6. Software updates improve the performance of the software itself, but often also close security gaps and minimise risks. You should therefore ensure that all necessary programmes are up to date.

You can find further information here: Technical notes / Requirements for video consultations

Yes! All members who seek advice (including family members, provided they are members) will receive a care insurance policy from the IGBCE Bonus Agency, issued by the Johanniter organisation – which operates throughout Germany – worth 300 euros. This amount can be used either to choose any Johanniter service – such as domestic help or transport services – or for an on-site consultation.

In addition, IGBCE members are entitled to free, expert care advice.

Here.

The first-ever collective agreement-based supplementary care insurance scheme is a testament to the innovative collective bargaining policy in the chemical sector. This means that it applies to employees covered by collective agreements in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Employers in this sector can also provide additional cover for non-collectively agreed employees and/or senior staff. Trainees are eligible upon being taken on and then without a waiting period. The cover also applies to people on parental leave, on a sabbatical and those on long-term sick leave. It is important that the person has been in employment for at least six months. Spouses and partners, children (with no age limit), as well as parents, parents-in-law and grandchildren can be insured privately as well. General exceptions: Those in need of care and people who have applied for care are not insurable.

Employers register their employees and pay the contributions for up to 12 months, depending on the duration of the parental leave.

For the remainder of the parental leave, employees can continue the contract privately at an individual contribution rate or place it on hold. Upon their return, employers re-register those on parental leave under the group contract. There is then no waiting period.

The departing employee may take over the policy on a private basis. Once they have deregistered, they will automatically receive a letter from Barmenia containing an offer to continue the policy. They may accept this offer within three months of its delivery. The application must be submitted in writing to the consortium leader for products and administration (Barmenia Krankenversicherung AG). Once the deadline has passed, the option to continue the policy privately expires. Should the employee regain eligibility for the group policy after taking out individual insurance, their employer will re-enrol them in the group insurance policy at the entry age they have reached at that time. In the event of such re-enrolment, the employee has the choice of continuing the individual insurance alongside the group insurance policy or transferring the individual insurance, together with the rights acquired up to that point (e.g. age provisions), into the group insurance policy.

This applies only to supplementary modules taken out privately. In this case, a 5% annual premium increase is scheduled every three years. You may object to this. The increase ceases after the second consecutive objection.

The contracts can be terminated at any time.

CareFlex Chemie provides significant protection against financial risks in the event of a need for long-term care. This is in line with the concept of risk insurance, comparable to motor vehicle liability insurance. Like motor vehicle liability insurance, it covers potential financial risks in the event of an accident – but it does not refund any money to drivers who have not been involved in an accident.

It is important to note that, in the event of a need for care, annual personal contributions of €28,932 (national average) must be made, for which all private savings must be used. CareFlex significantly reduces this heavy financial burden.

The basic cover agreed under the collective agreement for employees, with a contribution of €33.65 per employee covered by the agreement, is funded entirely by the employer. An advisory board reviews annually whether the agreed contributions and benefits need to be adjusted. In this respect, CareFlex is now part of the collective bargaining policy.

There are just under 600 care insurance plans on the market, all of which differ in the benefits they offer, in some cases significantly. Important to know: CareFlex is the first and so far only product where outpatient and inpatient benefits can be selected individually depending on the care level AND the level of cover. Furthermore, the basic version does not require a medical assessment (for spouses/partners and children: only a shortened medical assessment during the promotional period), meaning that even those with severe disabilities can be insured. Furthermore, the supplementary modules can be cancelled at any time, with no waiting periods, and a premium waiver is agreed in the event of a care need (care levels 2 to 5). It is therefore important to compare not only the price but also the benefits in detail.

As with other insurance policies, such transfers are not possible. However, during a consultation, policyholders can compare their existing policies with the new offer in terms of cover and premiums, and make adjustments if necessary.

You are entitled to this benefit during periods of parental leave and care leave, as well as during unpaid leave (such as a sabbatical) for up to twelve months. The entitlement also applies during leave taken from the long-term leave account and in the event of prolonged illness (where sickness benefit is received for up to 72 weeks).

Yes, you are entitled to it, and your employer will register you.

Entitlement arises once the six-month waiting period has expired, i.e. on 1 September 2021.