Applying for medical rehabilitation for children and young people with pension insurance

Medical rehabilitation is used to treat health and functional disorders. It aims to restore or improve your child's health and performance so that they can participate fully in school and leisure activities again. The long-term goal is to enable your child to work later on.

You must apply for the measure in advance from the German Pension Insurance. The type of treatment and choice of rehabilitation facility will depend on your child's individual symptoms. The therapy takes place in a rehabilitation facility run by the pension insurance fund or in one of its contract clinics.

Children's rehab can be provided on an inpatient, all-day outpatient or outpatient basis and usually lasts at least 4 weeks. It can also be extended if medically necessary.

Pension insurance covers the following costs:

• Costs for the rehabilitation of your child, for example for
  
  • medical treatment,
  • therapeutic and
  • educational services
• travel costs
• for inpatient children's rehab: costs for accommodation and meals
• Costs for an accompanying person if necessary

To ensure that schoolchildren miss as little schooling as possible, they receive accompanying lessons during rehabilitation if regular school attendance is not possible.

You can accompany your child for the duration of the rehab if this is necessary for the implementation or success of the children's rehab. As a rule, this is the case if your child is under 12 years old.

Children are not only your biological children. If you are insured under the pension insurance scheme or are already drawing a pension, children who are taken into your household or are mainly dependent on you can also be considered children.

• stepchildren and foster children as well as
• grandchildren or siblings

can also receive child rehab. Children who receive an orphan's pension can also receive child rehab.

You cannot receive medical rehabilitation for your child if

• you are a civil servant, soldier or judge or receive a pension,
• your child is entitled to a similar benefit from another rehabilitation provider, such as accident insurance, due to an accident at work, occupational illness or injury caused by a third party,
• your child is a civil servant or a soldier, or
• your child is in custody or serving a prison sentence.

Requirements

The following requirements must be met for your child to receive medical rehabilitation from pension insurance:

• In principle, children's rehab is possible up to the age of 18.
• Beyond that, at most until the 27th birthday for the period

• school or vocational training,
• a voluntary social or ecological year,
• a federal voluntary service or
• for young people who are unable to care for themselves due to a disability.

• Rehabilitation is possible if your child's impaired or endangered health - particularly as a result of chronic illness - is likely to be restored or improved as a result.
• Further requirements:

• You have paid compulsory contributions for an insured employment or activity for 6 calendar months in the 2 years prior to the application or
• You have taken up insured employment or self-employment within 2 years of completing your training. You exercised this activity up to the date of application or were incapacitated for work or unemployed after this employment or activity up to the date of application or
• you have fulfilled the general waiting period of 5 years at the time of application or
• You are a pensioner and receive an old-age or reduced earning capacity pension.

What documents do I need?

• Application for child rehabilitation
  
  • Report from the attending physician