Travel costs of health insurance for doctor visits

Health insurance sometimes participates in travel costs to the doctor

07/30/2014

In certain cases, the health insurance in Germany also participate in travel costs, which are due for a doctor's visit. However, this requires that the patients have at least care level 2 and have to go to the doctor for medically necessary treatment.

Application must be submitted in advance and approved
The health insurance companies in Germany also participate in certain cases in the travel costs to the doctor. The prerequisite for this is that the patients have at least care level 2 and medical treatment is necessary. According to a message from the dpa news agency, Michaela Schwabe from the Berlin Counseling Center for Independent Patient Counseling Germany (UPD) said: „So if you only want to pick up a recipe, you have to pay the travel costs yourself.“ In addition, the fund pays only if an application has already been made in advance and approved.

Additional payment between five and ten euros
Schwabe recommends: „For the application, sufferers should have the doctor certify that treatment and taxi travel are really necessary.“ This certificate should then be submitted to the health insurance. As a rule, patients have to pay 10 percent per trip, but at least five and no more than ten euros. The annual limit for co-payments is two percent of the gross income. For chronically ill people this limit is lower and is one percent.

Be sure to keep records
When the stress limit is reached, patients can be exempted from additional co-payments for the remainder of the year. For an informal application to the health insurance, which is submitted together with all previous evidence of additional payments. Therefore, it is important to keep them, as well as - if available - medical confirmations that provide information about why and why a treatment has taken place.

Conditions for reimbursement of costs regulated by law
Regardless of whether by taxi, a private ambulance or the ambulance: Even when transporting to a hospital, patients can not generally assume that the travel costs will be borne automatically by the statutory health insurance companies. As Ann Marini from the GKV-Spitzenverband in Berlin told dpa a few months ago, would the Paragraph 60 of the Social Code (SGB) V regulate which conditions for a reimbursement must be exactly met. (Ad)