Home Health Care

Insured individuals are entitled to in-home nursing care, which generally includes therapeutic care, basic care, and household assistance. This service is prescribed by a doctor and must be approved by your health insurance provider, provided that no other person living in the household is available to provide the care. The specific services covered depend on the individual’s medical condition:

If home health care ensures the success of medical treatment, the costs of treatment-related care will be covered as long as it is medically necessary (supportive care). The health insurance plan’s bylaws may also provide for coverage of basic care and household assistance.

If home health care can replace, prevent, or shorten a hospital stay, the costs of therapeutic care—and, if necessary, basic care and household assistance—are covered (hospitalization-prevention care).

Anyone who needs assistance due to a serious illness or an acute exacerbation of an illness—particularly following a hospital stay, outpatient surgery, or outpatient hospital treatment—is eligible for what is known as “supportive care” (basic care and household assistance).

For hospital avoidance care and supportive care, coverage generally lasts up to four weeks, depending on the medical condition. An extension for medical reasons is possible. Both services also include outpatient palliative care.