Medical approval for palliative allowance
Patients receiving palliative care in their home environment may receive a palliative allowance to help cover the cost of medication, care materials, and medical aids. Medical approval is required for this allowance.
What is the palliative allowance?
The palliative allowance is granted only to patients with an officially recognised palliative status. This financial support helps cover the cost of medication, care materials, and medical aids for patients receiving care at home. The allowance is indexed annually. You can check the most recent amount.
Patients with palliative status also do not have to pay co-payments for:
- Visits from their general practitioner.
- Certain services provided by home nursing
Conditions
- The illness is irreversible.
- The general, physical, or psychological condition is deteriorating severely.
- No therapy is able to improve the patient’s condition.
- The life expectancy is no more than 3 months.
- The physical, social, or emotional needs are severe and require significant, time‑intensive and sustained support.
- The patient has the intention to die at home.
- The patient also meets the additional conditions listed in the Medical Notification form.
Track the status of your medical approval in My Helan.
How does the application work?
Contact your general practitioner. He or she will determine whether the patient meets the conditions for palliative status and will request the palliative care allowance from the advising physician of the health insurance fund.
Send your application to Helan by post. It is best to do this by registered mail, as we must receive the application before the patient passes away. Otherwise, the reimbursement cannot be granted.
Submit the original application to the advising physician of the health insurance fund:
- Via the Helan office in your neighbourhood.
- Or drop it in a Helan mailbox in your neighbourhood.
- Or send it by post: Helan ziekenfonds, Medische dienst – Boomsesteenweg 5, 2610 Wilrijk.
If the patient meets the conditions, they are granted palliative status and the palliative care allowance is paid.
If the patient does not pass away within 30 days, the general practitioner may request one extension, following the same procedure.
Free home visit by the general practitioner
If a patient does not have palliative status, the general practitioner can request full reimbursement for home visits for certain palliative patients. The patient does not need to take any action. The GP arranges the medical approval with the advising physician of the health insurance fund.
