Overview
- The federal housing ministry has confirmed that pensioners who meet income, rent and asset rules have a legal right to Wohngeld, and both tenants and owner‑occupiers can apply for support.
- Social offices now treat large heating‑cost back‑payments as part of the month when they fall due, which can create a first‑time entitlement to basic security for the elderly if an application arrives in that month.
- The government approved higher social‑insurance calculation values that would raise the health‑insurance contribution ceiling to €6,375 and could increase the theoretical monthly maximum for statutory sick pay by up to about €394 from January 1, 2027, but the figures still need formal Bundesrat approval.
- A cabinet draft would raise the childless surcharge in the social long‑term care insurance from 0.6 to 0.9 percentage points from 2027, which would directly reduce net pensions for affected retirees if the law is passed.
- Existing rent, pension and benefit rules offer other reliefs — the ten‑percent rule for earlier recalculation of survivors’ pensions and the §262 SGB VI uplift for low pre‑1992 contributions — but campaigners warn that a planned change to the indexation method could lead to a third 'zero‑increase' in standard rates in 2027 and squeeze buying power for low‑income households.