2024-07-10 13:31:39
Many people in need of care are currently receiving mail from their nursing homes. Some of them are being asked to pay hundreds of euros more per month. What you can do now.
Although the state is now granting higher relief allowances, people in need of care or their relatives are paying more and more for a place in a nursing home. As of July 1, 2024, an average of 2,871 euros per month in co-payments out of pocket were due in the first year in the home. That is 211 euros more than in mid-2023, according to an analysis by the Association of Substitute Health Insurance Funds. Read here what the co-payment consists of.
With the highest relief from the fourth year in the home, the co-payment increased on average to 1,865 euros per month. That is 91 euros more than on July 1, 2023. For the first time, training costs, which are also passed on by the homes, were included in the evaluation. However, this item was also included in the comparison values from July 1, 2023, as was explained.
The following table shows how the costs are divided:
Embed
If the nursing home announces a price increase, you should not accept it without checking. This is because the facilities have to comply with certain legal requirements. The increase is only effective if all of these are met, explains the North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Advice Center. And that is often not the case.
According to the financial advice service “Finanztip”, around three quarters of the letters examined by the Biva Care Protection Association and the Berlin Consumer Advice Center are incorrect and therefore ineffective.
According to Section 9 Paragraph 2 of the Housing and Care Contract Act (WBVG), the pay increase must meet the following formal criteria:
- It must be in writing and justified.
- It must include the date from which you are expected to pay more.
- The notice must reach you at least four weeks before the planned price increase.
- It must list the items for which prices are increasing.
- It must compare old and new cost components.
- It must indicate the proportion in which the costs are to be passed on to the nursing home resident.
If the care facility ignores one or more of these criteria, you do not have to agree to the increase. Both Biva and the consumer advice centers can help to review the letter. The consumer advice center also provides a sample letter.
However, you cannot completely avoid the higher prices by objecting, but can only postpone them. As soon as the nursing home sends you a correct fee increase, you are obliged to pay.
If your pension is not enough for this, you can apply for “care assistance”. This social benefit is available to anyone who can prove that their own income is too low, that they do not have assets of more than 5,000 euros (10,000 euros for spouses) and that their children earn less than 100,000 euros gross per year.
You submit the application to the responsible social welfare agency. However, it is not retroactive. In 2021, around 400,000 people received care assistance. Almost 335,000 of them lived in nursing homes.
“The nursing care allowance could also be an option for those who do not have enough money,” says lawyer Verena Querling from the NRW consumer advice center. The catch: The nursing care allowance is only available in North Rhine-Westphalia, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Schleswig-Holstein.
It is paid when the income and assets of the person in need of care are insufficient. This is then used to finance the investment costs of a home – such as building rent and maintenance costs. The asset allowance for nursing care allowance is 10,000 euros for single people and 15,000 euros for married couples or life partners.
Nursing home residents can also often claim other benefits from the social welfare office, such as a clothing allowance. A switch to outpatient care can also make sense – if the level of care allows it. This is often cheaper than inpatient care.
If you still have time to plan ahead, you can consider private supplementary care insurance to avoid getting into financial difficulties later on. The sooner you start, the cheaper the premiums will usually be. According to the financial consultancy MLP, care pension and daily care allowance insurance are particularly recommended.
In the event of a claim, the daily care allowance insurance pays out a fixed daily rate that is based on your level of care. The advantage of the policy is that you, as the insured person, do not have to provide individual proof of your care costs. This means that relatives who provide care can also receive the payments, for example.
Compared to the care pension, the daily care allowance insurance scores with cheaper premiums. In order to counteract inflation, it makes sense to agree on a dynamic. This means that the premiums increase, but so do the later benefits.