Hilfsmittel für Krankenversicherte Finanzierung Blindenführhund

Are you blind or severely visually impaired? Then you can apply to your health insurance company for a guide dog as an aid.

Guide dogs for the blind, also known colloquially as seeing-eye dogs, are specially trained dogs that support you in everyday life if you are blind or severely visually impaired.

With the help of the dog, you can find your way around safely. For example, the dogs can

• seek out specific destinations
• avoid obstacles
• recognize dangers
• indicate roads that merge
• cross the road with you
• indicate obstacles such as stairs and steps

Your statutory health insurance will cover the costs of a guide dog for the blind:

• purchase
• training
• training
• Equipment:
  • Harness
  • leash
  • Collar
  • Muzzle
  • Identification blanket for the free run

You will also receive a monthly lump sum to cover the maintenance costs for your dog. Guide dogs for the blind are generally exempt from dog tax, but require a tax tag.

A ban on dogs, for example in grocery stores, museums or churches, does not apply to guide dogs for the blind. You can take your dog with you free of charge when traveling by plane or train.

• Medical prescription for the guide dog aid

• You are blind or have a severe visual impairment.
• You have a prescription for a guide dog from your ophthalmologist certifying the need for a guide dog.
• You can ensure that the dog is properly housed and fed. This includes daily exercise.
• You are personally suitable and willing to live with a dog
• You must have successfully completed a course in orientation and mobility (O & M) so that you can move around without having to be guided by a sighted person if the guide dog is unavailable, for example during breaks or rest periods.
• You complete training together with the dog and successfully pass the team test.

• It is very useful to have a consultation to find out whether a guide dog is a suitable aid for you. The associations for the blind and visually impaired can put you in touch with appropriate contacts.
• You apply to your statutory health insurance fund for a guide dog as an aid.
• If the application is approved, you can select the animal from a certified guide dog school with which your health insurance company has a contract. Your health insurance company will provide you with information about the relevant guide dog schools.
• As a rule, the dogs are trained as required, so you will receive your guide dog after 6 months at the earliest.
• A guide dog trainer with a training license will train you and your dog together.
• Once you have completed your training, you and your dog will be introduced to each other as part of a familiarization course. You should build up the necessary trust in the guide dog and the guide dog should accept you as a caregiver.
• You will take the so-called team test together. This proves that you and your guide dog work well together and that you can react safely even in difficult situations.
• When you move around in traffic together, your guide dog will wear a white harness with a harness handle.

There is no deadline.

There are no indications / special features.

• Appeal against the decision of the health insurance fund
• Complaint to the competent social court

• Guide dogs or guide dogs for the blind support blind or severely visually impaired people in everyday life
• Requirements for the assumption of costs by the health insurance company:
  • Severe visual impairment or blindness
  • Medical prescription from an ophthalmologist for a guide dog aid
  • appropriate accommodation and food for the dog
  • personal suitability of the dog owner
  • daily exercise
• joint training and harness test
• Information, advice and application for statutory health insurance
• Health insurance covers costs for
  • Acquisition
  • training
  • familiarization
  • Equipment such as crockery
  • Monthly maintenance costs
• Guide dogs for the blind are generally exempt from dog tax; tax stamp required
• Dog bans, for example in grocery stores or churches, do not apply to guide dogs for the blind
• Dogs can be taken along free of charge when traveling by plane or train