Costs and possible reimbursements for an emergency alarm - safety at zero cost?

An emergency call detector for at home or on the road gives people who are alone a bit of security and helps them to remain independent. In an emergency, adequate help is only a push of a button away. This not only relieves the burden on the person concerned, but also on relatives, who now have less to worry about. Different providers charge a one-time connection fee and monthly operating costs. Here you can find out what you should expect to pay if you get an emergency alarm and where you can get financial support. If you know what's important, an emergency call system won't cost you a cent.

The connection of an emergency call device is usually done by a trained specialist. In the case of a classic home emergency call, the base station is connected to the telephone connection at home (triple TAE socket or router). A socket in the immediate vicinity is also necessary for the connection. The device is switched so that it has priority over the normal telephone line. This means that if the emergency call is activated during an ongoing telephone conversation, it is automatically interrupted if necessary so that the emergency signal can be forwarded immediately. To ensure proper use, the system must be installed by a technician provided by the emergency call provider. The one-time costs for this service range from 10 to 80 euros on average, depending on the provider and the scope of the device (including additional devices), and usually also include a short briefing.

Monthly flat rates are charged for the provision of the emergency call service, which is usually available to users around the clock. Whether or how often the emergency call is actually made is irrelevant for this cost calculation. The amount of these flat rates varies not only with the provider and the region, but depends above all on the services booked. For the so-called basic services, costs between 20 and 30 euros are usually charged. These basic services of an emergency caller include:

- Round-the-clock staffing of an emergency call centre.

- In case of emergency: immediate coordination of adequate assistance measures

- Notification of a contact person

- Maintenance and any necessary repairs

The more additional services are contractually agreed, the higher the monthly costs will be. Here it is important to think carefully in advance about which services are actually needed and what they cost in detail.

In addition to the explained basic functions of an emergency call device, various services can be contractually agreed upon that are specifically adapted to the situation of you or your relative in need of care. The spectrum ranges from extended services such as key deposit, coordination of individual emergency plans or regular control calls to additional devices such as sensor mats, GPS tracking devices or fall sensors. Accordingly, the monthly costs increase on average by 10 to 30 euros plus any purchase or rental costs for special devices. The latter, however, are rather an exception.

A home emergency call is officially recognised as a care aid for senior citizens and can therefore be subsidised by the care insurance fund from care level 1. In order to be entitled to a subsidy, a contractual agreement must exist between the respective provider of the emergency call and the GKV-Spitzenverband. It is therefore important that you find out in advance whether your chosen provider is accepted by the long-term care insurance. If you are unsure, you can call the long-term care insurance company and ask. However, existing contracts are the rule, so you don't really have to worry. Since 1 July 2021, a subsidy of 25.50 euros per month has been provided for a home emergency call. This subsidy is intended to cover the basic services of an emergency call system. Possible additional services that lead to an increased monthly contribution must therefore be borne by the person concerned. In addition, a one-time reimbursement of 10.49 euros is paid for the connection of the emergency call signalling system. The legal basis for this is anchored in § 40 para. 1 of the Social Code (SGB XI):

"People in need of care are entitled to be provided with care aids that contribute to facilitating care or alleviating the discomfort of the person in need of care or enable him or her to lead a more independent life, insofar as the aids are not to be provided by the health insurance or other competent benefit providers due to illness or disability. In appropriate cases, the long-term care insurance fund can have the necessity of the provision with the requested long-term care aids checked with the participation of a nursing specialist or the medical service. If the insured person decides to have the nursing aid equipped beyond what is necessary, he/she has to bear the additional costs and the resulting follow-up costs himself/herself. § Section 33 (6) and (7) of the Fifth Book applies accordingly."

The text of the law thus provides for the necessity of care to be examined. What exactly does this mean and what should be considered?

To apply for reimbursement from the long-term care insurance fund, you need to consider the following points:

1. Care degree

At the time of application, you must have a recognised care degree. It does not matter which one it is. If there is no care degree, it must first be applied for and checked separately. Since an emergency call detector is a care aid that is only intended for persons in need of care, this requirement is mandatory. By way of comparison, "aids" (without "care") are reimbursed by the health insurance fund and are available to anyone who needs them at a given time for medical reasons.

2. Information from the long-term care insurance fund

You can apply informally to the relevant long-term care insurance fund. You inform the insurance fund in a short letter about why you need an emergency alarm. Formulations such as "to facilitate care" or "to maintain independence" are helpful. It must be comprehensible why the device improves the individual situation. Many providers of emergency call systems offer help in applying for reimbursement. In fact, however, the application itself is not difficult, since the medical data are usually already available and thus only the respective life circumstances that make the purchase for the care aid appear reasonable need to be briefly explained.

3. Examination of the application

When examining the application received, it is assessed whether the following conditions for reimbursement are met:

- There is a recognised care degree.

- The person concerned is alone completely or for large parts of the day or night or lives together with a person who would not be able to provide adequate help in an emergency.

- A sudden emergency situation is obvious.

- It can be assumed that the person concerned cannot make a conventional emergency call with a normal telephone due to the expected emergency situation.

For the assessment of the situation, in some cases an opinion is also obtained from the MDK (Medical Service of the Health Insurance).

4. Declaration of cost coverage by the long-term care insurance fund

After successful verification, both the provider and you will be informed about the assumption of costs. The settlement is then made directly between the long-term care insurance fund and the provider, so that you only receive an invoice for any differences. Ideally, all costs incurred will be covered by the subsidy and you will receive the emergency call point without any costs for you personally.

As already explained, the long-term care insurance fund can subsidise the so-called basic costs for an emergency call notification system to an amount that usually covers the costs completely if the set requirements are met. However, if additional services are booked that are necessary in the respective situation, the costs for these must be borne by the user. Even if there are valid reasons for this additional service, the long-term care insurance is not responsible for this. However, the social welfare office is. If the income is too low to cover the additional costs oneself, an application can therefore be made to the social welfare office to have the personal share of the costs covered. On 9 August 2016, the Social Court in Aachen ruled in such a case that the social welfare office must assume these costs in case of doubt. The responsible caseworkers had initially referred the case to the long-term care insurance fund, whose obligation was, however, fulfilled by assuming the basic costs.

In the case of an existing care degree, the care insurance covers the basic costs for an emergency call detector if the person concerned lives alone at home for a longer period of time, at least in phases, and the independence can be maintained by the device. Ideally, this means that there are no monthly costs. The application is uncomplicated and many providers of emergency call detectors offer their help with this. Additional services generate monthly costs of 10 to 30 euros on average over and above the basic tariff and must be borne by the patient. However, in case of financial hardship and proven necessity, they can be borne by the social welfare office.