Tolerated foreigners are entitled to hepatitis C therapy

LSG Darmstadt: Conservation of health is a subsistence level

Foreigners who have been granted temporary residence in Germany must not be left alone to receive hepatitis C treatment. If the alien receives asylum seeker benefits, the welfare office must in principle pay him the required antiviral therapy, the Hessian State Social Court (LSG) in Darmstadt ruled in a decision announced on Tuesday, July 17, 2018 (Ref .: L 4 AY 9/18 B ER ). A prerequisite for the assumption of medical expenses is that the foreigner is not only in Germany for a short time and that it is not treating a minor illness.

As a result, the applicant from Azerbaijan can still be treated for his hepatitis C disease. The man arrived at the end of 2015 with his wife from the Netherlands without papers in the Federal Republic. He applied for a residence permit for humanitarian reasons and benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act.

When he was diagnosed with hepatitis C infection in October 2016, a medical report recommended a 12-week antiviral therapy with a 90 percent chance of recovery.

The competent district of Fulda refused to pay for the treatment. Benefits for temporary foreigners could only be provided at a low level. In addition, the man is obliged to leave for the Netherlands.

By interim order the foreigner wanted to force the reimbursement. His health had continued to deteriorate.

In its decision of 10 July 2018, the LSG obliged the district to reimburse the costs. Even tolerated foreigners in the Asylbewerberleistungsberzug would be entitled to medical treatment of acute illnesses and the safety of health. The Basic Law grants a right to benefits to ensure a decent subsistence level. This included health services.

The essential services included all the necessary therapeutic measures, as far as minor diseases were concerned and the foreigner was not only in Germany for a short time. Here, the twelve-week antiviral treatment of chronic hepatitis C is essential to safeguard health. It could not be further waited because it was unclear when the man could be deported. fle