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Zorginstituut recommends greater compensation for restorative care for COVID-19 patients | NOW

Zorginstituut Nederland (ZIN) states published in a Monday urgent advice that health minister Tamara van Ark should temporarily reimburse restorative care for seriously ill COVID-19 patients under the basic insurance.

This concerns not only patients who have received care in intensive care, but also Dutch people who have been treated in regular hospital wards or who were seriously ill at home.

COVID-19 patients may experience long-term discomfort from the infection during the recovery phase. The care institute writes about loss of muscle strength and fitness, shortness of breath and other complaints due to complications with COVID-19.

Many complaints can be resolved by physiotherapists or remedial therapists, a speech therapist or occupational therapists. However, the care is almost not reimbursed from the basic package, which means that patients have to bear many costs themselves.

If Minister Van Ark adopts the advice of the Healthcare Institute, recovering patients will soon be entitled to so-called paramedical care for six months. This can be extended by six months if a medical specialist deems it necessary.

The treatment process can also be stopped after three months, if care is no longer necessary. According to the Care Institute, the plan would cost nearly 28 million euros annually.

‘People can stay ill for a long time’

According to advisor Harald Miedema of the Healthcare Institute, it is not fair that many patients currently have to pay the healthcare costs themselves. In conversation with NPO Radio 1 Miedema says that there is still much unclear about the virus, but that it is clear that patients can suffer from long-term complaints.

Van Ark took office on Thursday as Minister for Medical Care. Her predecessor, Martin van Rijn, had asked ZIN to come up with a proposal for a broader reimbursement for recovery care after a corona infection.

If the proposal is accepted, convalescent patients can request fifty treatment sessions within six months by a physiotherapist or remedial therapist, accompanied by eight hours of occupational therapy and seven hours of advice from a dietitian.

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