The relief amount in long-term care: a monthly allowance for everyday life

You are entitled if you have a care level from one to five and are cared for at home, so you do not live in a care home with full inpatient care. There is no means test. The amount is available to everyone, from a household with care level one to intensive care at home.

It is particularly valuable at care level one. There is neither a care allowance nor benefits in kind at this level, so the relief amount is the only ongoing benefit of long-term care insurance. People with private Pflegepflichtversicherung (i) have the same entitlement at the same level. They submit their receipts to their insurer instead of the long-term care fund. People entitled to Beihilfe (i)BeihilfeThe state healthcare allowance for civil servants. The Beihilfestelle pays a fixed share of medical costs, the Beihilfesatz, and private insurance covers the rest.More about Beihilfe → also receive the benefit, split proportionally between Beihilfe and private Pflegepflichtversicherung.

The amount is earmarked for relief in everyday life: recognized household helpers and everyday companions, support groups, care by the hour and out-of-pocket shares for day and night care and for short-term care. From care level two, the conversion entitlement is added. Up to 40% of the budget for home care benefits in kind can also be used for everyday support if the budget is not needed for visits by a care service.

In concrete terms, the following services are reimbursed:

Help organized privately without recognition under state law and purely private spending are not reimbursed. The federal states list which providers are recognized. The long-term care fund or the insurer will give you the regional addresses on request.

The relief amount works on the reimbursement principle. You hire the recognized provider, pay the invoice and submit the receipt. You do not need to apply in advance. As an alternative, many funds and insurers accept an assignment declaration. The provider then bills them directly and you do not pay anything up front.

Monthly amounts you do not use do not expire right away. They add up over the calendar year and remain available until June 30 of the following year. If you only receive a care level in October, for example, you can use the amounts back to the month of your application as soon as you have the decision.

In practice, three completely different things go by the name relief amount. The one described here is the care benefit under § 45b SGB XI. The premium relief plan is a saving component in private health insurance for lower premiums in old age and has nothing to do with the need for care. And the tax relief amount for single parents is a figure from income tax law.

If you use the wrong term with the insurer or in advice, you get the wrong information. Keeping them apart saves time and misunderstandings.

In our support for existing clients, the relief amount is the care benefit people most often give away. At care level one in particular, many families do not even know that they are entitled to money every month.

We recommend that you do two things as soon as you receive the care level decision: get the list of recognized everyday support providers in your region and settle the assignment declaration, so that nobody has to pay in advance. Once it is set up, the relief runs month after month, and in June it is worth checking the remaining entitlements from the previous year.

No. It comes on top of the care allowance or benefits in kind and does not reduce any other benefit. The reverse also applies: if you do not use it, you are not credited anything for it elsewhere.

In principle, no. Only providers recognized under state law are reimbursed. In most federal states, family carers do not count as such. Some states recognize neighborhood helpers who can prove they have taken a course. The rules differ a lot from region to region.

Yes, as long as there is no full inpatient care in a care home. Assisted living counts as care at home. Many facilities even bill their flat support fees directly through the relief amount.