The Healthcare System in Austria: Social Insurance, Doctors, Hospitals, Emergencies and Access for a French National

Austria funds its healthcare through social contributions levied on professional activity, with a framework set by the federal State and hospitals managed by the nine Länder. According to the Federal Ministry of Health, social insurance covers 99.9% of the people living in the country. Five institutions provide social protection: the ÖGK (employees’ health insurance), the SVS (the self-employed), the BVAEB (civil servants and similar staff), the AUVA (work accidents) and the PVA (pensions), according to CLEISS (the French liaison centre for international social security).

• Contribution: 7.65% of gross salary for health insurance in 2026, split between 3.87% for the employee and 3.78% for the employer (WKO, the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber).
• Free choice: the insured person chooses their doctor; with a few exceptions, they do not have to consult a general practitioner first before a contracted specialist or a hospital outpatient consultation, nor ask the fund for approval (Federal Ministry of Health).
• Regional funds: in each Land, a health fund brings together the Land, the State and social insurance to steer hospitals and financial resources.

Employees whose monthly pay exceeds €551.10 in 2026 are automatically insured for health, pension and accidents; below this threshold, only accident insurance applies, with an option of voluntary insurance at €83.49 a month (CLEISS). The self-employed fall under the SVS. The spouse and dependent children are covered as dependants: children until they come of age, and until 27 if in education (CLEISS).

People without activity and without a derived right can insure themselves voluntarily with the ÖGK (Selbstversicherung): €565.25 a month in 2026, with a possible reduction on request in case of financial difficulty (oesterreich.gv.at), and €78.84 a month for students (CLEISS). Cover includes care, hospital and medicines, but not cash benefits such as sickness allowances. Benefits start in principle after six months; they open immediately for a person who has been insured for at least 26 weeks in the last 12 months, or for at least 6 weeks just before the application.

Situations by status (seconded employee, retiree, student, tourist) are detailed in the page on healthcare reimbursement in Austria.

First contact with the system is with a general practitioner, in an individual practice, a group practice or a primary care unit (Primärversorgungseinheit), where doctors and other health professionals work as a team close to home (Federal Ministry of Health). With a contracted doctor, the insured person pays nothing for covered services billed via the e-card; some funds ask for a small contribution (Selbstbehalt) (gesundheit.gv.at).

• Kassenarzt: doctor under contract with the fund. In 2017, 61% of self-employed general practitioners had a contract, against 34% of specialists and 76% of dentists (Federal Ministry of Health).
• Wahlarzt: doctor without a contract, who sets fees freely. The patient advances the costs, then asks the ÖGK to reimburse 80% of the amount the fund would have paid to a contracted doctor, within the limit of actual costs. The invoice is submitted within 3.5 years, via the Meine ÖGK area or by post; Wahlärzte who follow at least 300 patients a year submit the claim through the WAHonline system since 1 July 2024 (ÖGK).

The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is accepted only by doctors and hospitals linked to social insurance. With a Wahlarzt or in a private hospital without a contract, a traveller pays the invoice as a private patient (ÖGK). The guide to checking the partner network explains how to check a practitioner’s status before the consultation.

In 2017, Austria had 271 hospitals and 64,805 beds, or 7.4 beds per 1,000 inhabitants, of which 5.2 in acute general-interest hospitals (Federal Ministry of Health). Emergencies and outpatient consultations are provided by hospital outpatient departments (Spitalsambulanzen), generally supplemented by specialist consultations; in Vienna, the AKH is the leading public university hospital.

• 144: ambulance (Rettung), for life-threatening emergencies. 112: European number. 133: police. 122: fire brigade. 140: mountain rescue (gesundheit.gv.at).
• 141: on-call doctor (Ärztenotdienst), at night and on weekends. 1450: telephone health advice, useful when the situation is not life-threatening. The poison centre answers on 01 406 43 43.
• Hospital contribution: an insured person pays a daily contribution that varies by Land, from €10.18 to €23.50 in 2026, for at most 28 days per calendar year (CLEISS).

France Diplomatie (the French foreign ministry) recommends insurance covering hospitalisation costs and repatriation, as these costs can be very high for a person not insured locally. The page on repatriation and assistance presents these guarantees.

Since 1 January 2026, the contribution per prescribed item (Rezeptgebühr) is €7.55. Once an insured person has paid 2% of their annual net income in Rezeptgebühren, they are automatically exempted for the rest of the year, with no application to make; the limit therefore requires at least 41 prescriptions at €7.55, or about €310. The medicines cost account kept by social insurance records the amounts paid. Certain groups are exempt, notably recipients of the pension compensatory supplement (oesterreich.gv.at).

• Prescription: the fund prescription (Kassenrezept) must be presented at the pharmacy within one month of being issued, on paper or electronically (ÖGK).
• Advancing costs: when a reimbursable medicine is paid for in advance, the fund reimburses 80% of the usual tariff, less the Rezeptgebühr, and not 80% of the till receipt (ÖGK).
• Health record: e-medication, a component of the ELGA electronic record, stores prescribed medicines for one year to avoid interactions and duplicates.

Vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis (FSME) is recommended for everyone living in Austria, as no Land is free of it; it is not part of the free vaccination programme. The basic schedule has three doses (the second 1 to 3 months after the first, the third 5 to 12 months after the second), with a first booster three years later, then every 5 years before age 60 and every 3 years after. Cases now occur from March-April, hence the value of vaccinating in January or February (gesundheit.gv.at).

• France Diplomatie also reports West Nile virus, transmitted by mosquitoes, and has published an alert on the rise in measles cases since 13 March 2026: the review of routine vaccines should be done before departure.
• Before a temporary stay: the EHIC is requested from your health insurance body at least 15 days before departure; travel insurance with repatriation remains recommended, notably for mountain rescue costs.

As Austria applies the European coordination rules, professional status decides the competent fund. A local employee falls under the ÖGK, a self-employed person under the SVS, a retiree holding form S1 registers with the ÖGK, and a seconded employee keeps the French scheme with form A1. A student on a temporary study stay uses the EHIC.

For a person who wants to complement these rights with first-euro cover, direct billing or access to practitioners without a contract, Expavy helps you compare options based on your situation, with the expat health insurance page. The Austria country page brings together costs and coordination agreements.