Massive criticism of ÖGK

Need to catch up with health insurance contracts

The SPÖ now explains why doctors often do not agree to a general health insurance contract with the ÖGK.(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

There is no shortage of doctors in Lower Austria - but there is a shortage of health insurance fund posts and doctors who still want to "afford" them. According to the SPÖ politicians Königsberger-Ludwig, Silvan and Kraus, bureaucracy and the ÖGK's poor tariff policy are mainly to blame for the misery. There are twice as many doctors today as there were in 1990 ...

Provincial Councillor Ulrike Königsberger-Ludwig and National Councillor Rudolf Silvan from the SPÖ are taking a hard line with the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK). In Zwettl, the health officer emphasized that the quota of statutory health insurance doctors had fallen from 19 to 17.5 percent since 2016.

"Contract will only be terminated with ÖGK"
"If you have more freedom as an elective doctor and also earn more, then it's clear why no one enters into a health insurance contract," Königsberger-Ludwig calls for less bureaucracy and better pay scales for doctors in private practice. "Why else do many people only cancel their contract with ÖGK but keep all the other health insurance companies?" asks Silvan.

Either money or relationships ...
"For quick treatment, you either have to know someone or put money on the table, otherwise it's almost impossible." Silvan demands that elective doctors should cover at least 10% of "health insurance services" if no appointment with a health insurance specialist is possible within 14 days via the 1450 health advice service.

Herbert Kraus, Ulrike Königsberger-Ludwig and Rudolf Silvan spoke plainly about the healthcare system in Zwettl.(Bild: René Denk)

Undersupplied in the countryside
In Zwettl, a district with 42,000 inhabitants, there is only one pediatrician with a health insurance contract - but five private ones, emphasized district party leader Herbert Kraus. As in Horn, there is only one urologist with and one without a contract. And in both districts there is only one lung specialist - albeit with a health insurance contract.