Austria’s public health insurer ÖGK is expected to save €23.3 million this year and €34.4 million a year from 2027 through recently introduced cuts, according to figures from the Health Ministry.
The figures were included in a parliamentary response from Health Minister Korinna Schumann, of the centre-left SPÖ, to the Greens.
Several of the changes came into force on May 1st and affect services including dental prostheses and medical transport.
What has changed for dental treatment and medical transport?
One of the changes concerns the co-payment for essential dental prostheses, such as crowns and plastic dentures.
The patient contribution, or Selbstbehalt, has been increased from 25 percent to 30 percent.
According to the ministry’s figures, this is expected to save ÖGK €5.8 million in 2026 and €8.7 million a year from 2027.
The largest savings are expected to come from changes to medical transport. These are expected to save €15.7 million in 2026 and €23.6 million a year from 2027.
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Under the new rules, ÖGK will pay for medical transport only if a doctor’s transport instruction confirms that the patient is unable to walk.
The insurer will also no longer cover the cost of transporting patients from one hospital to the next suitable hospital. According to ORF, this responsibility is now supposed to be taken over by the hospital operators.
What else has been cut?
Another change had already taken effect on March 1st. The family supplement to sick pay from the 43rd day of sick leave has been scrapped.
The ministry didn’t provide savings figures for all changes.
For example, no figures were given for tighter rules on the coverage of orthodontic treatment, where two diagnoses were removed from the benefits catalogue. There were also no figures for an additional compulsory assessment for people receiving extended sick pay.
The response also didn’t say how many people would be affected by the individual cuts.
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Greens criticise lack of figures
Green health spokesperson Ralph Schallmeiner, who submitted the parliamentary question, criticised the Health Ministry over the lack of information on how many insured people would be affected, ORF reported.
“The responsible minister is clearly approving cuts without knowing, or wanting to know, how many people are actually affected,” Schallmeiner said.
“That isn’t solidarity-based health policy, but hard-nosed austerity policy on the backs of insured people,” he added.
The cuts come as Austria’s health system faces ongoing pressure over costs, staffing and access to care, although the ministry response cited by ORF focused on the expected savings from the individual measures.
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Key vocabulary
die Österreichische Gesundheitskasse – Austria’s public health insurance fund, usually shortened to ÖGK
der Selbstbehalt – co-payment or deductible paid by the patient
der Zahnersatz – dental prosthesis, such as crowns or dentures
der Krankentransport – medical transport
das Krankengeld – sick pay
die Anfragebeantwortung – official response to a parliamentary question