Hospital advice

My wife has been admitted to the Krankenhuas in Sachsenhausen due to being seriously ill-think its an eating disorder closely linked to Anorexia but the doctors have yet to confirm but do say its a major concern for them
She has had several tests including an endoscopy plus various other tests to make sure she is 'disease free'. Thing is we had to sign several papers in which the hospital state that all the tests are done with the consent from my wife and risks which have been explained to us that 'could' happen. It states that if anything should happen then the hospital are NOT liable and that the insurance (extreme case as we were told) would take care of it
We both have insurance with BKK ANKER-LYNEN-PYRM and were also told about the costs involved (although no amount was specified) and these should be settled before any operation/diagnosis were done...
Thing is tests are being done no costing has been mentioned although the doctor has said the insurance should cover everything.
Even in the Krankenhaus notes to patients it says nothing much about this.
What I would like to know is how much will all this cost because I know they want to keep her for a full week I'm afraid this will get too costly for us.

Anyone shed some light on this be ever so gratefull...

The hospitals here will test for everything imagineable, if you give them the chance -- they charge it all individually-- especially if they don't have access to the medical background of the patient.

If the KK exclude payment for anything (and they don't pay for anything they think is unnecessary), you have to pay it from your own pocket.

Best get the KK involved. Get the Doctors to list what they intend to do and check out with the KK if this is okay.

If the Doctors are getting you to sign consents, they have to do it in your native language, or at least have a translator make sure you fully understand. It is probably wise to get them to commit in writing to what they want to do, and why, although they will resist that one.

On the plus side, they are not all black sheep and, if you can prove they didn't do the explanations properly, you can probably get out of paying unnecessary examinations and treatments. You do have to prove the point, though.

Thanks Mike
I am calling BKK today to find out exactly whats covered. Regarding the tests I can admit that they are being carried out without any explanation whatsoever, partly because my german is 1% anf the nurses who dont spk any english. We do have an english spkg doctor but he works nights and hard to get hold of so translation is down to a minimum.

I will however get them -somehow- to give me a breakdown of what has been done and what they intend to do, my wife would have helped in this (her german is better thn mine) but she has constantly been seduced most of the time...???

... I guess you mean sedated.

May sound obvious, but maybe you should take a German friend with you / get them to call BKK on you behalf ,so you can get a full explanation of what is going on. I know how daunting it can be when you don't feel fully in control, especially in these sort of circumstances.

Good luck to you both...

sorry...sedated!!

Been a busy and hectic night at the hospital

Sorry I cannot offer any more advice than has already been given but I just wanted to say I hope your wife is feeling better soon. An eating disorder is not at all pleasant and I hope you both get all the support you both need.

Good luck

Hi Parasio, you should definitely take someone who speaks German with you if you can and question everything!

I have had multiple trips to the hosiptal in the past couple of months, at one point they wanted to just repeat the treatment that I had already had, I asked why when it didn't work the first time and then they changed their minds!! As Mike said, they test for absolutely everything under the sun - to rule things out! My flatmate is a Doc at the hospital though and she did tell me they have to justify every test that they send a patient for, especially if it is not consistent with a typical diagnosis - they have to fill out loads of forms for the insurance. The hospital can end up footing the bill if it is proven that a test was unnecessary so by the sounds of it they are stricter than they use to be.

As far as I know you will also be charged around €15 a day for every day spent in hospital, I didn't spend any time in hospital as my flatmate was able to treat me at home (luckily) but she told me of the cost and this is not covered by the insurance. On the plus side you don't have to pay anything towards medication during a hospital stay, whereas you do afterwards.

As far as form signing goes, I had to sign something to say I was refusing treatment in hospital but the Doc wrote a statement out in English for me. I also had to sign something to say I wouldn't sue my flatmate (as if!) - I just think they are over cautious and like to cover the their backs.

Hope everything goes ok.

Pay for this, pay for that... What exactly are my (approx 14% of my gross income) f***ing health insurance contributions for then?

[QUOTE]
€15 a day for every day spent in hospital

Is this a mandatory fee seeing that we were told nothing about costings etc...?

I think that paying insurance every month I would be covered...wouldn't I???

I mean thats why I pay nearly 40% tax!!!

Anyway, stil trying to get hold of BKK.

It is a mandatory fee (however I am fairly certain that it is €10/day) to cover food/drink etc - the KK are of the opinion that if at home, the patient would still have to eat and would have to spend this money anyway! As far as I am aware, there is also an upper limit as to how much one has to pay as well (a certain amount of days, I think that it is 28).

Hope that your wife is well soon!

sorry, no idea and my flatmate is on holiday at the moment otherwise I'd asked her. I was surprised as well as I thought that was what insurance was for, it costs more than that to stay in hospital but the patient has to pay a nominal cost.

I got a bit of a shock when I went to collect my medication €80!!! It something like 10% of the cost but still, apparently it is to make sure people only get the medication if they really need it - although if you have just been prescribed it then surely you need it, there must be some logic to it somewhere...

this has absolutely nothing to do with Krankenkasse payments.

Yes it is normal to pay a daily fee , what it is i cannot say, but this is also only for a certain period of time.

The few times Veela or I have been in hospital we have never paid anything else but this fee. Signing a document to allow the hospital to treat you is also normal here. Even after signing this and they make a mistake you can sue them.

QUOTE: Pay for this, pay for that... What exactly are my (approx 14% of my gross income) f***ing health insurance contributions for then?

To pay for the Doc`s & Fachärzte`s big fat Mercedes, Eigenheim, Zweitwohnung and holidays in the Karibik...

do any of you know what it costs a hosptial to have you in? that is what the payments to the krankenkasse is for. Of course the doc gets his part of it, the same with the 10 euros you pay at the docs, this money is not his but he passes it on to the krankenkasse!

have any of you got jobs where you take risks? always so much bitterness

A Day in a german hostpital costs the Krankenkasse about 430 €.
( A Nurse told me the last time I was "In" )
It would be cheaper to Stay in a first class Hotel and have a nurse and doc come in once or twice a day...

EDIT: Just found this: Im Durchschnitt kostet ein Tag im Krankenhaus 331,49 Euro pro Patient. I suppose I wasn't that far out ...

There is/was a cap on the daily hospital rate. I thought it was to a maxmum of 14 days, in a year but I am going on records from 1999.

bbulldog... of course it costs money to give hospital treatment but that's what you're taking out health insurance for, isn't it?? Paying more than €500 a month, every month, to the Krankenkasse only to be told that when/if I need to make a 1 week stay in hospital I STILL need to shell out for some of the treatment strikes me as a bit bloody rich. How am I (as a patient) to know if I need certain treatment/drugs or not??? It is up to the doctor to prescribe only the necessary treatment and the KK to pay for it, or not?

Well many people have the impression that the whole medical profession and industry here are creaming off at every level, financed through the very high health insurance premiums people have to pay here. Everyone from pharma companies, doctors, specialists, hospital companies, as well as the whole bureaucracy of the krankenkasse industry itself who keep themselves going through it all. Its a nice little or should that be nice big earner for a lot of them.

High time to start capping some of the charges! We are all having to tighten our belts. Of course they all scream and squeal when theres talk about capping their part of the action - weve had it with the doctors, and the apotheken. But, the buck has to stop somewhere. At the moment its us that pays 14 % or more to finance the whole thing, and now with "top-up" charges as well. And more to come.

that is without any treatment though. Do you know how much a birth costs or an operation?


you are paying that much to the krankenkasse then you should change krankenkassen. I only pay half of that and have my whole family covered... maybe the system in England is better? waiting years for an operation. My father has an appointment today he has waited 16 months for!!!

Then it's the same solution in both countries...

I pay through the nose via a KK in Germany and get treatment straight away.

I pay through the nose by going private in the UK and get treatment straight away.

End result: no difference.

Just found out that it will cost me the princely sum of €10 pro tag!
This includes the keep, food, water,electricity and medications that she may need.

Although I have now found out that the tests are done as a way of elimination process hence the 101 tests she already has had.

We so far have progressed well and she seems to be alot better than before -finally allowed to eat after 3 days-and I managed to take her for a brisk walk along the Main which has done a world of good as the hospital walls were closing in on her. Although I could hear the nurse shouting for her to get back in ze zimmer so it was cut short...

However, I thank all of you for your advice and support that you have given in this post

Nice to know you're not alone

thanks again!

P.S I'll let you all know when she's out fit n proper again.

you're amongst friends here - that's what the BB is all about!

Hope Mrs Parasio is feeling better soon

Oh I dont know

I used to pay 500€+ TKK private insurance, now pay 153€ BUPA Ex-Pat insurance

I'd say that's a big difference.

Any way all the best for your wife Parasio hope everything goes well.

am sorry to hear about your wife - hope she will be feeling better soon!


- thats a bit unfair!! - am married to a german doc - and i've never seen the karibik :doh:
and a big fat mercedes... my poor old clapped out golf will soon have a complex!! - pls not so load :excl:

but i must agree - the way the whole things are indivially charge and added up is annoying - it annoys my husband to - hes the one who has to flight with the KK to get the money back into the hospital to pay for the tests!
and its worst with the privite patients - the extra money - when it doesn't go to the KK or hospital - goes straight to the "chefarzts" pocket!! - my husband doesn't see a thing or get anything extra!!

Paraiso,

I am pleased that your wife has made progress and is feeling a little better! Hopefully it won't be too long before she can go home again - although I can imagine that it's going to be a long journey back to complete recovery if it is an eating disorder! Just be patient and supportive of her!

Thanks all, just to let you know she is out of the Krankenhause and now back at home where I can keep a eye on her. Only thing is the doctor said her final reports will be in the post with her prescription???

Is this normal?