Day of informal care, minister points out rights

One in three people takes care of a family member or friend in need of care. Such a person is a carer and they are in the spotlight today. Flemish Minister of Welfare Hilde Crevits gave a bunch of flowers to Ria Cafmeyer in her hometown Torhout. She takes care of her daughter with Down syndrome. Ria Cafmeyer: “A nice acknowledgment. Certainly. And especially for the many people I know, who take care of someone else. For their son, their daughter, parents, brother, sister, etc… Yes, certainly.”

With heart and soul

Many carers do it with heart and soul, but sometimes also because they have to. Many do not register, which means that they do not receive extra support while they are entitled to it. Hilde Crevits, Flemish Minister of Welfare: “If you register, you are entitled to informal care leave, you can also receive the additional informal care premium. I know, people really don’t do that for the premiums or the leave, but it can sometimes be necessary Some people deny themselves a lot to be able to care and then that premium is a nice bonus.”

Flanders provides a premium of up to 600 euros for informal carers. CD&V is also submitting a bill to extend informal carer’s leave from 3 to 6 months. You can request the status of informal carer from the health insurance fund.