VIENNA – Austria’s government is signaling it may curb the powers of the country’s provincial doctors’ chambers to push through a long-stalled nationwide contract between physicians and the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK), reported by Die Presse . Social Democratic (SPÖ) State Secretary for Health Ulrike Königsberger-Ludwig said Thursday she takes the national Court of Audit’s recommendation “very seriously” but would not pre-empt ongoing talks. She called it “untenable” that insured medical services still vary from one province to another — with mole checks, for example, covered in some regions but not in others.
The master contract, already part of the government’s program, has been delayed amid disputes between the ÖGK and provincial chambers over payment terms. A draft audit report, revealed by broadcaster Ö1 and profil magazine, proposes removing the chambers’ ability to veto uniform rules. Königsberger-Ludwig said if negotiations fail again, stripping those powers “could be the outcome.”
The Austrian Medical Chamber rejected the criticism, noting that it had submitted a unified service catalog in 2020. The ÖGK points instead to some chambers’ high fee demands as the obstacle.
The Greens said the report confirmed their demand for a single national fee schedule and equal access to insured services regardless of residence. Former Green health minister Johannes Rauch blamed the ÖVP for blocking the reform in the last legislative term.
The far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) called the audit “a resounding slap” to recent health policy. FPÖ health spokesman Gerhard Kaniak accused the ÖVP, Greens, SPÖ, and NEOS of leaving “chaos that harms patients and wastes vast sums of taxpayer money” by failing to complete a reform the FPÖ claims it began.
