Judgment health insurance does not have to pay for disposal of incontinence diapers

BSG: No claim to reimbursement for larger dustbin
Health insurances must pay incontinence patients if necessary, although incontinence diapers, but not their disposal. That decided on Thursday, March 15, 2018, the Federal Social Court (BSG) in Kassel (Az .: B 3 KR 4/17 R). Specifically, it refused to take over the additional costs for a larger dustbin by the health insurance.

Image: vege - fotolia

The plaintiff from Schleswig-Holstein used to get along with a 40-liter residual waste bin with a 14-day emptying. However, the more he relied on incontinence diapers, the more often the bucket overflowed. Therefore, he ordered a ton of 120 liters, but now cost eight instead of three euros per month.

At the end of 2012, he therefore applied to his health insurance company to pay the costs of disposing of five euros a month in addition to the diapers. As a justification, he pointed out that the health insurance companies are also responsible for the electricity costs of an electric wheelchair or for the cost of providing a guide dog.

However, a reimbursement for the larger garbage bin rejected the health insurance - rightly, as now decided by the BSG. According to the legal requirements, the health insurance funds are only responsible for the "supply of aids", but not for their disposal.

The examples cited by the applicant are therefore not transferable, according to the BSG. Electricity and dog food are necessary to be able to use the respective aid at all. The waste costs for incontinence materials, on the other hand, only came after their use.

Finally, the Kassel judges referred to the additional costs of only 60 euros per year. This was "not so high that the legislature is to blame in this respect, the transgression of his broad social policy scope". mwo / fle