Last duty before the holidays: the Walloon government has approved a framework note setting out the main principles of the new autonomy insurance scheme.
This insurance should help to meet the major challenge of an ageing population and make it easier to stay at home for as long as possible in the event of a health problem.
In practical terms, from 2017, every Walloon resident aged 26 or over will have to pay a compulsory contribution of 50 euros a year (25 euros for those receiving the increased benefit) via their mutual insurance company. This contribution will be paid into a fund into which the part of the Walloon budget devoted to home help services will also be paid.
The overall budget, estimated at more than €380 million a year, will be used to support people who lose their independence, whether temporarily or permanently, in the event of accident or illness, and whatever their age. According to the projections, the autonomy insurance will enable those who benefit from it to receive an average of 300 euros per month, for example in the services of a domestic help or in a rest and care home.
Services, then, rather than financial support as in Flanders, where this type of insurance already exists, not least because the Walloon government also wants to encourage job creation in this social sector.
The practical details of this new autonomy insurance (scales of intervention, dependency assessment scale, etc.) will be defined in the coming months.
