Ukrainian refugees with cancer

If Ukrainian refugees are ill upon entry or become ill during their stay in Germany, they will receive medical care in Germany.

For cancer patients, this usually means that the necessary oncological treatment will be continued or even started. For this, they have to go through a multi-step procedure in Germany

Ukrainian refugees newly arriving in Germany must register after their arrival in Germany. 

• You can find the nearest foreigners authority for registration via a search function of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.
• Registration does not yet constitute a residence permit.
• Refugees initially receive a "proof of arrival". 
• During registration, it is clarified where refugees are accommodated.
• As soon as it is clear where the refugee will live, he or she can apply for a residence permit, more on this in the next section).
• Until a decision is made on the application for a residence permit, refugees receive a so-called "fiction certificate": this means that their stay in Germany is legal and they can receive medical care.
• The application for a residence permit must be submitted within 90 days of entering Germany. This regulation initially applies to first-time entries until 4 March 2025.

During the first period of their stay, refugees receive basic medical care in accordance with the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act. As a rule, cancer patients receive the necessary treatment or treatment that has already begun. 

Which treatment is covered by the basic care depends on the individual situation, for example, the stage of the disease or treatments that have already taken place.

The procedure for covering the costs of basic medical care can vary from region to region.

• In some cases, the responsible municipality or city issues "treatment vouchers" with which the persons concerned can go to the doctor or to a hospital. 
• In some cases, refugees receive an insurance card from a statutory health insurance company after a short period of time, which they have to show in the doctors' practice or in the hospital.

After the residence permit has been granted, refugees from Ukraine can work and apply for social benefits. To do so, they must register independently at the relevant JobCentre or social welfare office. 

If people from Ukraine have a residence permit and are fit for work but unemployed, they receive money from the Job Centre ("Arbeitslosengeld II") and are supported in their job search. They become compulsory members of the statutory health insurance, receive an insurance card and are thus entitled to all benefits of the statutory health insurance.

If people from Ukraine have a residence permit and cannot work, for example because of their age or because they are incapacitated due to illness: Then they receive basic security ("social assistance"). Although they are then not compulsorily insured in the statutory health insurance scheme, they also receive a health insurance card from a statutory health insurance fund. If necessary, they can use this card to obtain health services that correspond to the scope of services provided by the statutory health insurance. To do so, they must present the insurance card at clinics and surgeries. In this way, the costs can be settled directly with the social welfare office.

Refugees who have not yet applied for basic benefits will initially continue to receive benefits under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act and only basic health insurance cover. 

Refugees who accept a job in Germany usually become members of a statutory health insurance fund and receive the full benefits of the statutory health insurance. Spouses and children are then usually also insured (family insurance).

Refugees who have assets or a high income from self-employment cannot usually receive benefits under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act, from the JobCenter or from the Social Welfare Office. They must also pay the costs of their medical treatment themselves. The Cancer Information Service cannot provide information on when this is the case and what costs are incurred. In principle, private health insurance may also be an option for these people.

Contact the clinic or doctor's office at an early stage: In this way, those affected can quickly discuss with doctors how cancer treatment can be continued or started. This is especially true in cases where the report to the authorities cannot be made immediately after arrival or cannot be finalised right away.

Clarify costs: Refugees should discuss with the doctors treating them whether and what costs will be incurred – especially if they are still receiving basic care under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act. Doctors must inform refugees whether they have to bear the costs of treatment themselves and how much. 

• The Cancer Information Service cannot provide an assessment of which treatments are covered by basic care in individual cases.

Medical emergency: If there is a medical emergency, the affected person can go directly to a hospital or a doctor's office or call the emergency number. The assumption of costs will then be clarified on site. 

• Important: It cannot be completely ruled out that the refugees themselves will have to bear the costs.
• Cancer as such is not an emergency. As a rule, an emergency only exists if there is an acute danger to life (for example, acute respiratory distress, stroke, heart attack or accident).

When cancer patients want to return to Ukraine: What Ukrainians have to consider in such a situation and how a return to Ukraine affects their residence permit and protection status can be read on the website of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.

The German Cancer Aid (DKH) has set up an aid fund for relatives of Ukrainian cancer patients who accompany the patients (children or adults) during treatment in cancer centres in Germany. From this assistance fund, travel, accommodation and other costs already incurred or to be incurred by family members of the patients will be covered by German Cancer Aid up to an amount of 5,000 euros/patient.

Please note:

• The aid fund is available to Ukrainian cancer patients who are treated in Comprehensive Cancer Centres, in cancer centres certified by the German Cancer Society and in children's cancer centres.
• The application must be submitted by these clinics.
• Further information is available on the DKH website and from INFONETZ KREBS on 0800 80708877 or by e-mail to krebshilfe@infonetz-krebs.de.

The German Cancer Society (DKG) maintains a list of certified Oncological Centres and Comprehensive Cancer Centres (CCCs/Spitzenzentren) on its website to which refugee Ukrainian patients in need of cancer therapy can turn. The centres listed there provide support in the regional patient-centered care.

• The website is in German, English, Ukrainian and Russian.
• The listed facilities all offer a telephone hotline and e-mail address with contact persons who can help cancer patients.
• The list is updated continuously.

The University Hospital Düsseldorf accepts Ukrainian patients who suffer from leukaemia or lymphoma and come from the vicinity of Düsseldorf or are planning a stay in this region.

• The address is:
  Düsseldorf University Hospital
  Moorenstr. 5
  40225 Düsseldorf
  Tel: +49-(0)211-81 19 530
  E-mail: info@leukaemieliga.de
• The costs of treatment are covered by the AOK health insurance fund.
• Affected persons should register at the entrance gate of the university hospital. If possible, an identity document and the contact details of the current accommodation should be brought along.
• Questions about the stay at the University Hospital can be answered - also in Russian - at the office of the Leukaemia Lymphoma League e.V. under the telephone number +49-(0)211-81 19 530.

Various state cancer societies support Ukrainian cancer patients: The Krebsgesellschaft Rheinland-Pfalz e.V., the Thüringische Krebsgesellschaft e.V. and the Saarländische Krebsgesellschaft e.V. work within the initiative "Cancer Sufferers and Refugees - We Help", where

• they support affected refugees by providing timely and needs-based referrals to specialists and helping them to make contact.
• they offer free counselling in various foreign languages.

In addition, the counsellors try to provide further practical help such as arranging accommodation or interpreting and transport services.

The Berliner Krebsgesellschaft e.V. offers unbureaucratic financial support from its hardship fund to Ukrainian refugees with cancer. Affected persons can apply for the money through the district cancer societies, social services of the treating hospitals or directly from the Berliner Krebsgesellschaft e.V.. Requirements are:

• a medical certificate stating the cancer disease, 
• a copy of the identity card and
• that the person is residing in Berlin.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Health coordinates the medical evacuation of patients within the country as well as cross-border transport (short name of the action "medevac").

According to the website of the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Health itself submits a request for evacuation and then receives proposals from hospitals in the European Union and the European Economic Area. The coordinators of the Ministry of Health then contact the coordinators of the host countries and agree on the stages and routes of safe medical transport.

This evacuation route is not available to all patients: In principle, it is up to the treating doctors to decide who is elegible. However, cancer patients who require highly specialised medical care may be included.

Further information can be found on the website of the Ukrainian Ministry of Health (English and Ukrainian).

The German statutory health insurance company AOK provides comprehensive information in a FAQ on health-related topics for refugees from Ukraine (German). The information is also available in Ukrainian. (accessed 06/01/2024).

The non-profit organisation MedWatch provides information in German, Ukrainian and Russian on health issues of concern to Ukrainian refugees (accessed 06/01/2024; articles are continuously updated):

• Information for people from Ukraine with cancer How and where to continue therapy? (German)
• Information for refugees from Ukraine and helpers (German)
• Important information on staying in Germany (health insurance) (German)
• Where can you get medication? (German)

The Federal Ministry of the Interior has set up the assistance portal "Germany4Ukraine" for refugees from Ukraine, which offers more detailed information in German, English, Ukrainian and Russian – including information on medical care.

The Handbook Germany is sponsored by the Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration, among others: This handbook contains compiled information in German, Ukrainian and Russian. Here you can also find a FAQ on medical care under "Further assistance".

The European Union (EU) has compiled information for war refugees from Ukraine in all EU languages as well as in Russian and Ukrainian, including

• Information on health care
• Information on rights in the EU

 (accessed 06/01/2024)

The Federal Centre for Health Education (BzgA) offers a wide range of information material in Ukrainian and Russian on the Corona pandemic, other infectious diseases and vaccinations. (Entry page in German, accessed 06/01/2024).