Health Budget: Medical Association Calls for Round Table Discussion
"The failure of the tariff negotiations with the Austrian Health Insurance Fund in Styria is an alarm signal," said Medical Association President Johannes Steinhart on Sunday in a press release.
Medical Association warns: "Failure of negotiations with the ÖGK in Styria is an alarm signal"
As the "Kleine Zeitung" reported over the weekend, the annual fee negotiations between the Styrian Medical Association and ÖGK have recently stalled. According to Josef Harb, deputy chairman of the ÖGK in Styria, they did not part in a "full crash", but the Medical Association has rejected the ÖGK offer. "It's a situation we've never experienced before," said Dietmar Bayer, Vice President of the Styrian Medical Association. The offer from the ÖGK would not make the necessary expansion of the outpatient sector possible, so they broke off the negotiations and will now "discuss further action in the committees".
In January, they will try to initiate new talks, Harb announced. For the Styrian ÖGK insured, the break should have no short-term effects, as he does not expect the Medical Association to terminate the contract. The Austrian Health Insurance Fund expects a deficit of up to 800 million euros next year. Harb hopes that money will be freed up for the outpatient sector during the federal government negotiations.
"Gloomy Outlook": Medical Association Calls for Round Table
For Steinhart, the situation in Styria is certainly "a harbinger of the unaffordability of the solidarity health system". He urgently calls for a round table with representatives of the Medical Association, politics and the ÖGK, to secure the financing of healthcare for the future. The developments in Styria herald "gloomy prospects" also for Vienna, Burgenland, Lower Austria and Carinthia. "If the ÖGK runs out of money or is not willing to spend it, it could deal a severe blow to the social and solidarity health system, which has been starved by politics for years."
(APA/Red)
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