Concession for palliative home care

31-07-2007

Patients who are terminally ill and cared for at home are entitled to a fixed concession of € 483,39. This will help them finance expensive medication, medical aids and care products. This fixed concession is added to the concession the patient was entitled to before.

Patients who are cared for at home and who suffer an irreversible condition which evolves unfavourably, are eligible for the palliative forfeit. If the patient’s decease is expected in a relatively short term (less than three months), and if surgeries and therapies have not helped, the treating doctor can apply for the palliative forfeit. One of the requirements is that the patient needs intensive care and wants to pass away at home.

Application

If the patient is considered for a palliative forfeit, the GP will notify the patient’s sickness insurance fund’s advisory doctor. To do so, the GP can fill in a form. Immediately after receiving the form, the sickness insurance fund will deposit €483,39 in the account of the rightholder. Only when the patient is staying in hospital or in a retirement home, the amount will not be paid. If, after 30 days, the patient is still cared for at home, the GP can apply for the forfeit again.

Goal

Using the forfeit, the patients can pay for their homecare costs. Examples are: co-payment for certain medicines, supplies such as incontinency materials, disinfectants, probes, needles and pain pumps and aids such as special mattresses and beds, medical lifting aids and backrests. Patients that are considered for the forfeit, are also entitled to a full reimbursement of the official sum for GP house visits, physical therapy and homecare nurses.

For more information, contact social services or your regional sickness insurance fund consultant.

Translation: Iris Oda

Source: Visie