Mother-child pass

Too late at the doctor: child benefit was canceled

Scheduling problems with check-ups cost the mother almost 1,300 euros.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Daniel Scharinger Sock-Adobe)

First the boy (1) was ill, then there was no earlier alternative appointment with the ophthalmologist in Lower Austria. However, the health insurance fund was not interested in any of this - it simply canceled the mother's childcare allowance and demanded a refund of 1,300 euros. 

The Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK) canceled the childcare allowance of a mother of three in the district of Bruck an der Leitha because the note of a check-up at the ophthalmologist was missing from her mother-child passport - the 37-year-old was ordered to pay back 1,300 euros. The bureaucrats did not seem to be interested in the reasons for the missing stamp.

Searching for an appointment in vain
The check-up appointment for the one-year-old son had already been arranged, but the boy's illness prevented him from visiting the ophthalmologist. However, the alternative appointment offered was later than the deadline stipulated in the mother-child pass. So the woman also tried her luck with other ophthalmologists - but in vain. When she asked the ÖGK, the mother was assured that a late examination would not be a problem as she could prove that her child was ill. A short time later, the woman received a demand for reimbursement from the insurance company.

We immediately pulled out all the stops and provided full legal protection. In the end, the case even ended up in court. And we were completely vindicated in the proceedings.

Markus Wieser, Präsident der Arbeiterkammer Niederösterreich

Bild: AKNÖ/Vyhnalek

Chamber of Labor helped
In her distress, she turned to the Chamber of Labor. Interventions didn't help, the case went to court. "We were completely vindicated," says AK President Markus Wieser: "The mother was not responsible for the boy's illness or for the fact that there was no timely alternative appointment."