As of: January 25, 2024, 4:38 p.m
By: Andrea Stettner
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The cost of a nursing home place often exceeds savings and pension payments.
But who pays if there isn't enough money?
The children don't always have to come up.
The statutory pension is rarely enough to finance a place in a nursing home (as an alternative to home care).
Many people therefore take precautions and sell their house or apartment in order to be able to cover the care costs.
But how high are the costs actually - and what happens if your own assets and income are not sufficient?
For example, do the children then have to finance their place in the home?
An overview.
What are the costs for a nursing home place?
The costs of living in a nursing home consist of various items, including:
Costs for care and support
Costs for food and accommodation
Investment costs
Training costs
if applicable, costs for additional services
The largest share is due for care and support.
Depending on the home and federal state, home operators may also charge a contribution to the training allowance.
Many seniors cannot afford the costs of a place in a nursing home.
(Symbolic image) © HalfPoint/Imago
Who covers the costs of the nursing home?
Anyone who has regularly paid contributions to statutory or private nursing care insurance and the need for care has been confirmed by an expert (e.g. from your private nursing care insurance or the medical service) will receive a monthly subsidy towards the costs of nursing care and support as well as the training costs from the nursing care insurance company.
The remaining costs are borne by the residents themselves.
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How much is the nursing care insurance subsidy?
How high this subsidy is depends primarily on the level of care that has been determined for you.
According to information from the
consumer advice center
(as of 2023),
the nursing care fund currently pays out subsidies to nursing homes in the following amount:
Care level 1 = 125 euros
Care level 2 = 770 euros
Care level 3 = 1,262 euros
Care level 4 = 1,775 euros
Care level 5 = 2,005 euros
In addition, since January 1, 2022, residents of care levels 2 to 5 have received a further benefit supplement, which depends on how long they have been using full-time inpatient care services.
The surcharge is between 5 percent (if you live in a nursing home for up to 12 months) and 70 percent of your own contribution to the care costs (for stays of more than 36 months).
The longer you live in a nursing home, the lower the amount you have to pay for the nursing home.
This surcharge is also paid directly to the nursing home; an application is not necessary.
How high is the personal contribution?
The remaining care costs are borne by the residents themselves.
In addition to the care costs, there are also the costs for accommodation (e.g. room cleaning) and meals as well as investment costs (e.g. for modernization work) as well as other additional services that are billed to the residents.
The home costs that each resident has to pay are of course very individual.
An analysis by AOK,
which took a close look at nursing home costs in Bavaria , shows what costs might be expected
: “The current analysis shows that nursing home residents are still at the end of 2023 despite an average surcharge of 618 euros per month Had to pay 964 euros for the care themselves.
In addition, there is an average of 827 euros for accommodation and meals and 389 euros for investment costs.”
What do you do if you can't pay for a place in a nursing home yourself?
If your income and assets, the payments from the nursing care insurance fund and possibly nursing housing benefit are not enough to pay for a place in a nursing home, you may also be entitled to housing benefit.
If there is no entitlement, you can apply for support services from the social welfare office, such as “assistance with care” or “security in old age”.
Do children or relatives have to pay for the nursing home?
Children can be required to make maintenance payments for their parents, but only with an annual gross income of 100,000 euros (valid since January 1, 2020).
The decisive factor here is the child's income alone, not the total income with the spouse.
“As a rule, social welfare providers assert the right to parental support and demand that you disclose your income and assets,” inform consumer advocates in an article on
consumer headquarters.de
.
Larger donations of money, house and property can also be reclaimed by the social welfare office if the person in need of care applies for social assistance within ten years of a gift,
BR.de
informs :
When dependent children do not have to pay
According to the consumer advice center,
if parents are guilty of “significant misconduct against the child”, especially at times when they were responsible for the child, they have
little to no maintenance claim against the child.
This includes, for example, mistreatment or gross neglect.
However, breaking off contact is not enough.
Incidentally, this 100,000 euro limit does not apply to remaining spouses/life partners who are obliged to support them - they must contribute to the home costs.
Other relatives cannot be called upon to provide maintenance - such as grandchildren, siblings or cousins.
Anyone who is cared for by relatives at home or needs household help is entitled to care allowance from care level 2.
This last increased on January 1, 2024.