Guest patient dispute

Mikl-Leitner now demands millions back from Vienna

Johanna Mikl-Leitner: "Vienna has abandoned a joint path that has worked well for decades – at the expense of our fellow citizens!"(Bild: NLK KHITTL)

Lower Austria's powerful ÖVP governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner is stepping up the eternal dispute over guest patients. She is urging Vienna to comply with valid contracts and threatening to reclaim several million euros if it fails to do so.

The ongoing political dispute over the care of guest patients from Lower Austria in the federal capital is entering the next round. As the "Krone" has already reported, the state of Lower Austria is supporting a patient's lawsuit against the city of Vienna.

Now, the powerful ÖVP governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner is stepping up the pressure in the case and demanding compliance with the contract. "If Lower Austrians are no longer treated in the federal capital, then Vienna should repay the money earmarked for this in the financial equalization scheme!" The equalization scheme, which was only finalized in 2023, stipulates that Vienna will receive around 500 million euros annually (until the next equalization in 2028) for the care of guest patients from Lower Austria.

"Surgery tourists" disadvantaged
In Vienna, however, "own" patients are sometimes given priority on the grounds that the "surgery tourists" from the surrounding area would result in additional costs of 610 million euros per year. For Governor Mikl-Leitner, this is no longer acceptable. She points to the close economic ties between Lower Austria and Vienna. More than 200,000 Lower Austrians commute to the federal capital every day, forming the backbone of Vienna's economy – that is almost a fifth of all employees in Vienna.

Johanna Mikl-Leitner: "Vienna has abandoned a joint path that has worked well for decades – at the expense of our compatriots!"(Bild: NLK KHITTL)

Blue-yellow pillar in Vienna
"Our fellow citizens generate around 20 billion euros in gross value added in Vienna. Their work generates 220 million euros in municipal tax revenue for the city of Vienna. This makes them real contributors to Vienna's economy. These revenues benefit Vienna – while Lower Austria pays for the livelihoods of these hard-working people and finances kindergartens, schools, roads, and the entire regional infrastructure," said the governor. "It is therefore incomprehensible that Lower Austrian patients in Viennese hospitals have their agreed surgery appointments canceled for months on end. That they are turned away and thus treated worse than foreign citizens with a Viennese registration form, even if they have never paid into the system. I demand fair treatment for our Lower Austrian compatriots."

Mikl-Leinter: "This cannot be right."
According to the state leader, the guest patient regulation continues to function without complaint in other federal states. "Vienna has abandoned a joint approach that has worked well for decades – at the expense of our fellow citizens. That cannot be right. We are taking legal action on behalf of a rejected patient to set an example. Politically, we will continue talks with Vienna so that we can find our way back to the common path as quickly as possible," Mikl-Leitner concluded. Lower Austria will continue to take all political and legal steps to ensure that the agreed service is provided.