ÖGK before drastic austerity measures: patients have to worry about their services!
ÖGK before drastic austerity measures: patients have to worry about their services!
The Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK) faces a drastic restructuring due to a forecast deficit of 906 million euros for the current year. In order to bring finances back into balance by 2026, ÖGK chairman Peter McDonald from the ÖVP plans to implement savings that will affect both the administration and the insured. This reports Kosmo .
The planned measures include stricter regulations for access to specialists and cost -intensive services. In a total of three federal states, including Salzburg, pilot projects are started to test the new regulations. The aim is to control access to specialists via general medical assignments.health care and savings
The ÖGK plans to implement savings of 500 million euros this year. This includes possible restrictions on imaging procedures such as CT and MRI as well as a reduction in patient transport. From June 2025, the health insurance contribution for pensioners is also to be raised to six percent, which could bring additional income of around 300 million euros. reports that negotiations with doctors are also running over the savings on blood findings and expensive examinations.
members of the Austrian Medical Association are concerned about the savings in the health system. Chamber President Johannes Steinhart emphasizes the need to catch up with the reform and investment deficit in recent years in order not to further endanger the health care of the population. In this context, the Medical Association calls for 1000 new cash register and more flexible cash register contracts with the ÖGK. The press reports that these demands are part of a larger plan to reduce the stress for medical staff and to ensure empathetic care without time pressure.
Future view and challenges
The exact effects of these savings measures on the 7.5 million insured persons are currently unclear. The decisive consultations on the Board of Directors and the Annual General Meeting of the ÖGK are just around the corner, and specific decisions are expected shortly. The possible closure of non -covering ambulatories is also discussed.
The planned austerity measures are not without controversy, and the medical association has already warned that the patient should not use all levels of the health system independently. Steinhart also pointed out the need to avoid unnecessary costs and additional medical pollution in order to preserve the efficiency of the health system.
In summary, the situation of the ÖGK is tense, and the upcoming decisions will be crucial to master the financial challenges without endangering the quality of health care.| Details | |
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| Ort | Salzburg, Österreich |
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