Basic Security Act
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Law on needs-based basic security in old age and reduced earning capacity |
| Short title: | Basic Security Act |
| Abbreviation: | GSiG |
| Type: | Federal law |
| Scope: | Federal Republic of Germany |
| Legal matter: | Social law |
| References : | 860-6-21 |
| Issued on: | June 26, 2001 ( BGBl. I pp. 1310, 1335 ) |
| Entry into force on: | January 1, 2003 |
| Last change by: | April 27, 2002 ( BGBl. I p. 1462 ) |
| Effective date of the last change: |
January 1, 2003 |
| Expiry: | December 31, 2004 ( BGBl. I p. 3022 ) |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version. | |
The law on needs-based basic security in old age and reduced earning capacity (Basic Security Act - GSiG) was a law that defined a social benefit for people who had either reached the statutory retirement age or were permanently fully disabled in terms of pension insurance.
With this law, the German federal government wanted to counter what is known as "hidden old-age poverty". Many pensioners in need did not apply for social assistance benefits because this would inevitably have meant that the children would have been obliged to support their parents as part of the maintenance obligation. In order to accomplish this, recourse to the maintenance debtors was excluded for the basic security, provided that they had an annual income of less than 100,000 euros.
In order to save administrative work, many specialized social welfare rules were not included in the basic security. For example, an adjustment of the standard rate in the basic security was excluded. Likewise, no one-off services could be claimed; to compensate for this, there was a flat surcharge of 15 percent on the standard rate of social assistance. Apart from the additional need due to walking difficulties, no additional needs were provided for in the basic security. The cost of accommodation was only covered in the amount of the appropriate expenses; there was no transitional regulation or hardship clause in the basic security. In the case of inpatient accommodation, only an amount equal to the reasonable accommodation costs for an apartment was paid.
The crediting of income and assets was essentially regulated in the same way as in social assistance. In addition to the income of the applicant, the income of the spouse who was not permanently separated had to be taken into account, insofar as it exceeded the fictitious need that the spouse would have if he received basic security himself. In the case of basic security (unlike social welfare), however, child benefit was not included in the child's income and therefore not taken into account. In contrast to social welfare, there was no assumption that the household's needs were met with regard to basic security.
The municipality (district or urban district) in which the applicant has his habitual residence was responsible for the basic security; however, the federal states could adopt different regulations here. In addition to the basic security offices, the pension insurance institutions were also obliged to advise on questions of basic security. SGB X was not applicable to the administrative procedure under the Basic Social Security Act ; instead, the state regulations on administrative procedures applied.
The approval period was one year and usually lasted from July 1st to June 30th of the following year, at the same time as the pension and the associated adjustment of the standard rates of social assistance. The federal government reimbursed the costs incurred by the states as a result of the basic security by increasing the subsidies for housing benefits.
On January 1, 2005, the Basic Security Act ceased to be in force, the regulations in the form of basic security in old age and in the case of reduced earning capacity became part of the new SGB XII and thus social assistance. This solved one of the biggest problems of the basic security, namely that the basic security often did not cover the needs, especially in the case of one-off needs and even more so in the case of inpatient accommodation and then social assistance benefits had to be used.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bayerischer VGH, February 19, 2004, AZ 12 BV 03.2219
Web links
- The Basic Security Act in practice (diploma thesis at the University of Applied Sciences Kehl )