Health Resort Stays after Illness or for Preventive Care

Statutory health insurance companies can approve stays at health resorts after an illness as rehabilitation or preventive care. A frequent example is "follow-up rehabilitation" to help the patient recover quickly after hospital treatment and continue living independently. For this reason, health resort stays are often prescribed after heart attacks or other serious illnesses.

Those with statutory health insurance should discuss their application for a health resort stay with their doctor. The doctor must clarify whether such a stay is necessary from a medical point of view. The form for applying for a health resort stay is available from the doctor. For preventive cures, the insurance fund's forms are usually used. Statutory health insurance funds examine each case individually. A health resort stay can be approved even if no previous hospitalization exists.

Health resort stays are intended to help the patient to control illnesses better or prevent their condition from worsening. Older people should not be placed in nursing homes too soon but should live in their own homes for as long as possible. Statutory health insurance funds will probably approve an application if a doctor attests that a health resort stay would serve these goals.

Health resorts stay for mother, father and child

Health resort stays for mothers and for mother and child (and fathers, and father and child) are a compulsory benefit provided by statutory health insurance funds. These stays are designed to meet the needs of mothers and fathers. Physical illnesses and psychological complaints are diagnosed and treated during the three-week stays.

In principle, all women (and men) with familial responsibilities are entitled to inpatient preventive care and rehabilitation. Statutory health insurance companies must approve medically necessary health resort stays, and thus, mother and child stays.

The contact person is the family doctor or gynecologist who submits the application for the mother and child (or father and child) health resort stay to the statutory health insurance provider. Before applying, the doctor checks whether the patient is in need of either preventive care or rehabilitation. The doctor also determines both the prognosis and the goal of the treatment.