Now Confirmed: From 2025, No Free Replacement for Amalgam Fillings Initially
The year 2025 brings deteriorations for Austria's dental patients: There will initially be no replacement for the then banned amalgam as a dental filling material, fully covered by the health insurance. The reason is the refusal to negotiate by the Dental Association. The Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK) will now try to conclude separate contracts with individual dentists, said Chairman Andreas Huss on Friday in the Ö1 "Mittagsjournal".
Amalgam Ban from 2025: No Agreement on Free Replacement
The fund would have been ready to pay 20 percent more than before for amalgam-free fillings, promoting the relatively new, white material Alkasit tested in health insurance clinics. The Dental Association, on the other hand, only wants to accept the technically inferior glass ionomer cement as free for patients, everything else should be a private service from the point of view of the professional representation. The association left unanswered appointment offers from the ÖGK for further negotiations.
Huss was annoyed with the association. "The Dental Association has really let the time pass, that is not responsible," he said in the "Mittagsjournal". The fund is therefore resorting to the possibility, existing since the latest financial equalization, to offer individual contracts to dentists, bypassing the association, with a 20 percent plus for the fillings.
The eleven private dental clinics in Austria have already accepted this offer, according to the ÖGK. There will also be free supply with the "new good material" Alkasit in the 61 health insurance-owned centers, said Huss. The new tariff should also work out for the practicing dentists, he said, referring to a similar situation in Germany. Therefore, according to the ÖGK chairman: "I am pretty sure that many dentists will participate."
Amount of Reimbursement Still Open
Anyone who gets a filling done by a dentist who refuses the offer, however, will have to advance the fee from next year. How high the reimbursement from the insurance will be, which the patient can then reclaim, is not yet defined in the statutes according to ÖGK.
Dental Chamber President Birgit Vetter-Scheidl justified the refusal in the "Mittagsjournal". She said it was particularly unreasonable to expect young colleagues to work for rates that were no longer cost-covering. The chamber therefore wants changes to the overall contract and the fee schedule. However, there are no negotiation dates for this yet.
Criticism from FPÖ and Greens
Criticism of the conflict, from both sides, came from both the FPÖ and the Greens. "The particularly embarrassing and childish squabbling between the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK) and the Dental Chamber only serves a few 'vain peacocks' but certainly not the patients," said the Freedom Party's health spokesman Gerhard Kaniak in a press release: "Both have the duty to reach an agreement before the end of the year to ensure adequate patient care."
The health spokesman for the Greens, Ralph Schallmeiner, expressed similar sentiments. "We don't have time for mutual blame games, as the ÖGK and ÖZÄK (Austrian Dental Chamber, note) are currently doing. The disputing parties must sit down at a table and find a solution for those affected. The patients have priority", he emphasized.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.