CPAS coverage¶
When a resident cannot afford their personal share (accommodation and supplements), the CPAS (Public Centre for Social Welfare) of their municipality can cover it, in full or in part. Resthome lets you record this decision on the resident record and route the invoice to the right debtor.
You’ll find these settings in the Billing tab of the resident record, and the list of CPAS in Billing → Configuration → CPAS.
What the CPAS covers
The CPAS steps in on the resident share (room + supplements), not on the dependency allowance: the latter is covered 100% by the health insurance fund and billed via eFact. See The INAMI dependency allowance.
What CPAS coverage is for¶
Two notions must be distinguished:
Record the decision — who the CPAS is, from when, under which reference, for what coverage and what amount. This information documents the case and is tracked in the audit log (financial category).
Route the invoice — decide who Resthome sends the resident share to: the resident, their family, or the CPAS. This routing is driven by the Billing contact or by maintenance debtors (see below).
1. Declare the CPAS as an organisation¶
Before linking a resident to a CPAS, the CPAS must exist as a contact.
Open Billing → Configuration → CPAS.
Click New and enter the CPAS name, its city, phone and email.
Check that the “Is a CPAS” box is ticked (it is by default from this menu).
Save.
Why tick “Is a CPAS”
The CPAS field on the resident record only offers contacts flagged “Is a CPAS”. A CPAS created elsewhere (in the generic contacts) will appear in the list only if this box is ticked on its record.
2. Enter the coverage on the resident record¶
Open the resident record and the Billing tab.
In the CPAS assistance group, tick Covered by CPAS.
Select the responsible CPAS.
Choose the CPAS coverage: Full coverage or Partial coverage.
For partial coverage, enter the CPAS monthly amount.
Complete the CPAS decision: date, reference and, if needed, CPAS notes.
Field |
Role |
|---|---|
Covered by CPAS |
Activates the coverage and switches the Default payer to CPAS |
CPAS |
The responsible organisation (list filtered on “Is a CPAS”) |
CPAS coverage |
Full (the CPAS pays everything) or Partial (the CPAS pays a share) |
CPAS decision date |
Date of the grant decision |
CPAS decision reference |
Number / reference of the received decision |
CPAS monthly amount |
Amount paid by the CPAS — partial coverage only |
CPAS notes |
Free text (conditions, contact, remarks) |
Fields that appear as you go
The CPAS, the coverage and the CPAS decision block only show once “Covered by CPAS” is ticked. The CPAS monthly amount only appears for partial coverage.
3. Route the invoice to the CPAS¶
This is the step that decides who the resident-share invoice goes to.
The CPAS pays everything → set the resident’s Billing contact (in the Default payer group) to the CPAS contact. The monthly resident-share invoice will then be sent to the CPAS.
The CPAS pays part of it → use maintenance debtors (split billing): add the CPAS as a debtor with its percentage, and the remaining payers (resident, family) for the balance.
The “CPAS assistance” section is a record, not a splitting engine
The fields in the CPAS assistance section document the decision and switch the Default payer to CPAS, but they do not automatically redirect or split the invoice. The invoice recipient stays determined by the resident’s Billing contact (or the stay’s billing contact), and the partial split by split billing. Without one of these two levers, the resident share keeps being sent to the resident.
What Resthome does — and does not do¶
Action |
Automatic? |
|---|---|
Track the CPAS decision (financial audit) |
Yes, as soon as it’s entered |
Switch the Default payer to CPAS when you tick “Covered by CPAS” |
Yes |
Send the invoice to the CPAS |
No — via the Billing contact |
Split the resident share between CPAS and family |
No — via split billing |
Deduct the CPAS monthly amount from the billed amounts |
No — informational field |
Key points to remember¶
CPAS coverage concerns the resident share (room + supplements), not the dependency allowance (health-insurance-fund share, via eFact).
First create the CPAS in Billing → Configuration → CPAS (“Is a CPAS” box), then link it to the resident in the Billing tab.
Coverage is full or partial; the CPAS monthly amount only applies to partial coverage.
The CPAS assistance section records the decision; to route the invoice, use the Billing contact (full coverage) or split billing (partial coverage).
The CPAS monthly amount and the decision reference are specific to each case, based on the CPAS notification.