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Information and advice

Regardless of where you are insured, you have a right to benefits-in-kind in the case of illness such as medical services and medicine in your country of residence.

Do you live abroad? Regardless of where you are insured, you have a right to benefits-in-kind in the case of illness such as medical services and medicine in your country of residence. You have a right to the same treatment which a citizen of your country of residence would get. If you are insured outside your country of residence, we advise you to register with the health insurance fund responsible for your place of residence. Ask your health insurance fund to provide you with an "S1 form" and submit it to the health insurance fund at your place of residence. This procedure is commonly used by retired citizens not living in the country from which they get their pension and where they are insured.

General information on the benefits offered by the social security funds in cases of illness, accidents at work or occupational diseases are available on the website of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (in German) and on the website of the German Social Accident Insurance.

Information for retired persons

You are retired? Generally speaking, the German statutory pension insurance fund pays you your pension without deductions, deferrals or changes no matter where you live in the EU at the time of the payment of your pension.
Having worked in more than one member state will also not put you at a disadvantage. It is true that there is no "European pension", but as a general rule every country pays pensions in the framework of European and national legal provisions. More information on pensions abroad is available on the website of the Deutsche Rentenversicherung, Germany’s statutory pension insurance fund, and on the website of the European Commission.

MISSOC (Mutual Information System on Social Protection)

If you are interested in comparative information on the social security systems of other EU member states, you may want to visit the website of the Mutual Information System on Social Protection (MISSOC), an EU system providing information on social security.

MISSOC publishes comparative tables on the social security systems:

  • of 31 countries (the 27 EU member states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland)
  • in the following 12 major areas: funding, health care, sickness, maternity, invalidity, old-age, survivors, accidents at work and occupational diseases, family benefits, unemployment, guaranteed minimum resources, long-term care,
  • and in more than 300 individual categories. The information is available in English, French and German. The information on the national systems is updated regularly and is presented in the form of detailed tables.
    Further information
  • Handling of A1 attestations for activities arranged at short notice and short-term activities in other EU countries, the EEA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as well as Switzerland

The information is available in English, French and German. The information on the national systems is updated regularly and is presented in the form of detailed tables.