Applying for household help for people with statutory health insurance during pregnancy and after childbirth

Source: BUS Rheinland-Pfalz

Under statutory health insurance, you can receive household help if you are temporarily unable to continue running your household due to pregnancy-related complaints or after giving birth. The prerequisite is that there is no other person living in your household who can support you.

During pregnancy and childbirth, you are entitled to support from a home help if you are unable to continue running your household because

you have pregnancy symptoms such as anemia, nausea or cramps that go beyond the normal level,
your doctor has instructed you to take it easy physically, for example due to a high-risk pregnancy,
your health is weakened after giving birth.

You will need a medical certificate to apply for home help from your health insurance fund. Your doctor or midwife will confirm the need for home help and state the extent and duration of the home help you are likely to need.

If your statutory health insurance fund approves your application, it will arrange a home help from a care service or a comparable organization. If the health insurance fund is unable to provide domestic help or there is a reason not to do so, you can organize the domestic help yourself. You will then be reimbursed the appropriate amount of costs. However, there may be regional differences.

If your parents, siblings or other close relatives help you with household chores, your health insurance fund cannot reimburse them. However, it can reimburse travel costs and, in some cases, loss of earnings. Please contact your statutory health insurance fund for more information.

If you fall ill during pregnancy or after giving birth, you may be able to apply for household help in the event of illness. The conditions for applying for household help in the event of illness are different from those for pregnancy. You will also have to make an additional payment.

You can apply for household help during pregnancy and childbirth by post or - in the case of many statutory health insurance funds - in person at the office or online.

Fill in the application form from your statutory health insurance fund and submit it to your health insurance fund together with a doctor's confirmation of the necessity, duration and scope of the household help.
Your health insurance company will check your entitlement to home help and advise you on suitable providers. Alternatively, you can also choose a home help provider yourself, provided they are a contractual partner of your health insurance company.
You hire the home help.

Processing normally takes around 1 to 15 working days.
Your health insurance company must have the necessary information and any required documents in a complete and meaningful form in order to process and decide quickly.
The health insurance company decides on applications promptly, whereby the statutory processing period is adhered to in order to protect patients' rights.
Please note that the processing time stated is an average value for all health insurance companies. It may vary in individual cases.
The exact processing time also depends on the complexity of the individual case and may be longer. The same applies if documents or records are sent to you or your health insurance company by post.
The Medical Service may need to be involved. It may take up to an additional 5 weeks to process your request.

Applying for household help for people with statutory health insurance during pregnancy and after childbirth

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