Hamburg/Frankfurt/Main (dpa/tmn) – Hardly anyone likes to deal with this scenario – especially not at a younger age: But with age, the risk of becoming in need of care increases.
If a level of care has been determined, the statutory nursing care insurance steps in and covers a significant portion of the costs for the nursing home or outpatient care service. But not everything. In the best case scenario, daily care allowance insurance should close this gap.
Is such a policy a good decision? Five questions and answers.
What exactly is daily care allowance insurance?
Daily care allowance insurance is private supplementary insurance. As soon as a level of care has been determined, she pays an agreed sum daily or monthly. The amount is linked to the level of care.
“This benefit is independent of the care costs actually incurred,” says Julia Alice Böhne from the Association of Insured Persons. Insured people can use the money freely, for example to help around the house or to pay for shopping.
What speaks for such insurance?
Julia Alice Böhne finds that “daily care allowance insurance offers the best protection for the need for care”. It refers to the variant of daily care allowance insurance, which is not subsidized by the state.
Other supplementary care insurance policies – including the subsidized daily care allowance insurance (Pflege-Bahr) – are more limited in their benefits. According to the expert, they are therefore only suitable as a supplement.
However, if you decide to take out daily care allowance insurance, you have to get a good rate. If this is the case, the insurance benefits. “It can ensure a certain standard of living if you need care,” says Böhne. Anyone who is unable to cover the additional costs of needing care through retirement income and assets can protect themselves with such a private policy.
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Experience has shown that these additional charges quickly reached the four-digit euro range every month. “In addition, insured people do not have to accept social benefits or pay maintenance to their relatives,” says Böhne.
According to the magazine “Finanztest” (issue 7/2023), daily care allowance insurance can be particularly useful if you want to inherit home ownership. Because: High care costs can certainly eat up your assets – you can protect yourself against this with a policy.
What speaks against insurance?
Daniela Hubloher from the Hesse consumer advice center, however, is rather skeptical about daily care allowance insurance. It is clear that one should make provisions for any need for care. “But does it have to be in the form of insurance? We recommend good retirement planning, which includes provision for care.”
Savings are also possible if you want to protect yourself or your partner. The question is whether you can even afford daily care insurance for decades. The contributions are high – and increase over the years. According to the magazine “Finanztest”, it is rarely possible to suspend contribution payments for a period of time when things are financially tight.
“Anything is possible with entry fees ranging from 37 to 140 euros,” says Daniela Hubloher. However, the consumer advice center found in consultations that some initial calculations were extremely favorable. “That may have been miscalculated – and later led to faster tariff increases.”
Daniela Hubloher reports that insured people have also reported to the consumer protection agencies “where the insurance premium has more than doubled within seven years.” The reaction of many insured people in such a situation: cancel the insurance. “But the money deposited is also gone.”
How do I find a good tariff?
You should make sure that the insurance covers all five levels of care. “The highest cost burden arises from inpatient care in homes,” says Julia Alice Böhne. Since inpatient care is generally necessary from care level 3 onwards, this must be included in the tariff. “Tariffs that only provide inpatient care only make sense if you want to commit to inpatient care,” says the insurance expert.
Daniela Hubloher sees it similarly. Because the services offered by individual insurance companies vary greatly, “you should think carefully beforehand about what you want to have insured.” A question that you have to deal with: How do I want to be cared for – at home or do I want to go to a nursing home?
“An exemption from contributions if you need care is also a good criterion,” says Daniela Hubloher. Because with some insurance policies you have to continue paying in even if a level of care has already been determined.
What else is important?
If you decide to take out such insurance, you must answer the relevant questions truthfully, says Hubloher. If cheating is discovered, the insurance company can terminate the contract.
However, the scope of the questions is very different. Some low-cost plans would ask fewer questions. “But they usually have little performance.” In general, insurers are concerned with estimating the risk of needing care. “Someone with heart disease or osteoarthritis will not be accepted or will receive a high risk premium,” says Hubloher. “To put it bluntly: you don’t insure burning houses.”
2024-03-03 23:51:42
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