Berlin. BVMed, the German Medical Technology Association, welcomed the passing of the technical aids safeguard law (Hilfsmittelsicherungsgesetz, HSG) by the Bundesrat (Upper House) at the end of November as bringing “necessary clarity to the contentious question of who reimburses technical aids in care homes”.

The law, says BVMed, accedes to the associations’s demands that technical aids that are part of a treatment procedure should be reimbursed by the health insurance funds – irrespective of the patient’s age or whether he or she is residing in their own home, or a care home.

Shortly after the law’s acceptance by the Bundesrat, BVMed Director General Joachim M. Schmitt said that it was now the responsibility of the Bundestag (Lower House) to ensure that the necessary clarity for patients is provided by a speedy progress of the law.

An acceptance of the HSG by the Bundestag would make recent judgements by the Federal Social Court on 6 June (regarding feeding pumps) and 24 September 2002 (regarding medical aids for the treatment of decubitus) legally binding. Thus, aged care patients could be spared further lengthy legal procedures.

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