Majority of health insurers offer extended video identification
More health insurers are enabling access to Health ID via "ePass". This was announced by IT service provider Bitmarck for its approximately 80 health insurers.
(Image: Panchenko Vladimir / Shutterstock.com)
The health insurance IT service provider Bitmarck has announced that it will offer its approximately 80 customers the identification procedure "ePass". This is a digital procedure already approved by Gematik for obtaining the Health ID and thus access to online services of health insurers such as the electronic patient record (ePA) and the e-prescription service. Among the first customers of Nect Ident was Barmer health insurance, among others.
The ePass procedure developed by Nect Ident uses the NFC data stored on the ID card chip, which is compared with biometric features. The combination of NFC reading and automated video identification is intended to achieve a higher level of security than previous video identification procedures.
Insured individuals will no longer need a health card or an ID card with a PIN, nor will they need to go to a branch or post office. Instead, an NFC-enabled smartphone and an ID card with the ePass function activated are sufficient. According to Bitmarck, around "80 percent of statutory health insurers [...] can make the service available to their insured persons from March 25th".
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The legal basis for the procedure was created with the "Law to Expand Powers and Deregulate in Nursing Care", which came into force on January 1, 2026. Gematik had already approved ePass at the end of November 2025. For Bitmarck customers, use should be possible from March 25, 2026.
In the past, there had repeatedly been criticism, especially of the conventional video identification procedure. Experts from the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) environment had repeatedly shown that identities could be faked with comparatively simple means. The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) also expressed concerns about security and called for stricter requirements. As a result, the procedure was ultimately no longer approved in the healthcare sector. From the perspective of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), the combination of NFC reading of the ID card and biometric verification, as used in ePass, is considered more robust than purely video-based identification procedures.
(mack)
