Berlin (dpa / tmn) – Geriatric rehabilitation aims to help maintain mobility and independence in old age or to restore it in elderly patients after illness or surgery. In addition, the need for care should be avoided for as long as possible.
The good news: from July 1, your recipe will be easier. Health insurance will no longer check whether geriatric rehabilitation is medically necessary for insured persons aged 70 and over. This task now lies on the doctor’s panel. This was decided by a joint federal committee of doctors, health insurance companies and clinics in December 2021.
Functional tests are required
To prescribe such rehabilitation, which is possible on both an outpatient and inpatient basis, physicians must now make “diagnoses typical of geriatric medicine,” such as limited mobility or depression. They are checked by certain functional tests.
If a prescription with an appropriate diagnosis is submitted to health insurance for cost recovery, it only checks the performance requirements. For example, the need for rehabilitation due to at least two diseases is documented by a doctor. This could reduce the application time.
New regulations for subsequent rehabilitation in all age groups
For rehabilitation after a hospital stay without an age limit, from July 1, the previous check of the health insurance companies will no longer be valid – but only for certain clinical pictures. These include cancer, cardiovascular or neurological diseases. Or if direct follow-up rehabilitation is necessary after the implantation of a new knee joint or after hip surgery to prevent the need for care.
However, here it is still a prerequisite that, among other things, there is a positive rehabilitation prognosis.
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