Ignores the law

Medical association ignores patients’ rights

The Medical Association is calling on its members to ignore a law that is supposed to ease the burden on patients.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/EVA MANHART / APA / picturedesk.com, zVg)

Anyone who is ill in Austria has to do one thing above all: wait. First for a doctor's appointment, then for the bill from the insurance company. This should be faster and automatic in future, but the Austrian Medical Association advises its members to simply ignore the law. However, according to the Ministry, patients can defend themselves against "unwilling" elective doctors - the "Krone" shows how.

Anyone who goes to an elective doctor from July 1 can insist that the doctor submits the bill online to the relevant health insurance company. This should enable patients to be reimbursed more quickly. A relief for all those who (have to) switch to elective doctors at their own expense due to the massively overloaded health insurance system - and with relatively little bureaucracy for the doctors. However, one month before the deadline - already agreed last year - the Medical Association is up in arms against the new patient law.