ÖGK rejects a wheelchair again: patients urgently demand help!

ÖGK rejects a wheelchair again: patients urgently demand help!

The Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK) is again criticized after it has rejected the financing of an urgently needed electric wheelchair for Gabriela R. (62). Gabriela suffers from a disease of the central nervous system and has reached care level 6. Despite medical regulations that confirm the need for an electric wheelchair, the ÖGK dismissed its application. People's attorney Bernhard Achitz reports that such rejections now often occur, especially at the Tyrolean branch of the ÖGK. This raises the question of why affected people often only receive the required aids after interventions by the public prosecutor's office.

ACHITZ warns that the legal situation is clear: Both the General Social Insurance Act (ASVG) and the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabilities oblige the ÖGK to provide the necessary aids. In the case of Gabriela R., the ÖGK first invented that it could still go with a rollator. Later it was claimed that she was too sick to safely operate the wheelchair. The chief physician of the ÖGK did not rely on a personal assessment, but only on general information about her illness.

other cases of increasing urgency

Gabriela R. is not alone in her struggle for support. Gerhard R. also has a continuing need for an electric wheelchair, since his 17 -year -old wheelchair is irreparably damaged. He was waiting for a decision by the ÖGK for months before the wheelchair was only approved after the public prosecutor's office intervened and reporting on the ORF program "Citizens' Attorney. He is currently dependent on an undisclosed rental roll, which leads to additional problems.

Christine A., another affected person with multiple sclerosis, also had to wait a long time for the financing commitment for a wheelchair. In her case, too, the public prosecutor intervened before the ÖGK assured that it would cover the costs. The public lawyer Achitz criticizes the delays and opaque decision -making processes of the ÖGK and emphasizes the need for faster and unbureaucratic procedures.

systematic challenges and legal obligations

These incidents are not only isolated cases, but also reflect a greater structural problem in Austria, where the aids suffering from competence splintering. The UN Convention on the Rights of Disabilities actually obliges Austria to make support technologies available for people with disabilities. Nevertheless, many people only receive inadequate aids or have to wait a long time for permits. The Disabled Council calls for a revision of the outdated aid catalog and uniform legal conditions at the federal level.

• Legal claim to optimal and individually adapted care
• Right to training for aids
• maintenance, repair and replacement procurement by the cash registers
• Creation of a central point of contact for aid supplies

The inadequate care and the problems in the approval of aids are evident in the case of Marco J., who rains support for his 24-hour medical care. Here, the ÖGK was responsible, but in other cases refers to the state of Tyrol. This non -transparency leads to an enormous burden for those affected, which are dependent on necessary aids.

The challenges in the aids are complex and require urgent reforms and more patient -friendly handling on the part of the ÖGK. The large number of symptoms that enter into the public prosecutor speaks volumes about the urgency to solve these problems.

For more information on these topics, the reports of the [ots] (https://www.ots.at/presseaus-sung/ots_20250629_OSS0003/oegk-tirol-weigert-Wieder-ein-electric Rollstuhl), eno.ombudsman [Disabled Council] (https://www.behinderatenrat.at/stalchaffe/position-des-oesterreichen- Disableden Councilor Councilor.