Dental negotiations burst: Who is to blame?

Dental negotiations burst: Who is to blame?

Laimgrubengasse 10, 1060 Wien, Österreich - On January 1, 2025, the EU-wide amalgam ban comes into force, which will be a significant change in dental care. Andreas Huss, chairman of the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK), is at the center of the discussion, since he recently claimed that negotiations with the Dental Association had stalled due to uncooperative conditions. In his explanation of the ZIB, Huss found that he got "put the armchair at the door" from the Dental Association during several attempts at negotiations, which made the negotiations almost impossible, such as Apa-OTS reported.

The delays are particularly worrying, since solutions for the 7.6 million insured persons of the ÖGK must be found until the ban comes into force. The pressure caused by Huss ’massive public statements hinders the negotiations, which turns out to be problematic, since promising alternatives to amalgam, such as the material alkasite, are checked. This was identified by the ÖGK as a suitable solution and is already used in the dental health centers, as kosmo . The need for a consensus -oriented dialogue between the ÖGK and the Dental Association is undeniable in view of these developments.

Despite the tense negotiation position, the ÖGK does not give up. The health insurance fund has submitted various suggestions for future discussions and appeals to the Dental Association to take this opportunity to work. Huss emphasizes that responsibility for dental care is taken seriously and that the wishes and needs of the insured should be in the top priority. "Our doors are open," he added, which indicates that a constructive negotiation result is still possible, but neither the time nor the dynamics of negotiations are facilitated by the continued public discussion and the conflicts within the negotiation process.