The chairman of Austria’s public health insurance fund (ÖGK), Andreas Huss, is calling for an upper limit on private doctor fees, modeled after the German system. “I’m receiving more and more complaints from patients who say, ‘I’m paying enormous sums to private doctors and only getting part of it reimbursed by the fund,’” Huss said on Ö1 radio. “We see that private doctors are charging ten to fifteen times the public tariff—that’s simply unacceptable.” The Austrian Medical Chamber rejected his proposal.
Huss said he is therefore demanding “a cap on private medical fees, following the German model.” Speaking Monday on Ö1’s “Morgenjournal,” he explained: “In Germany, the limit is two and a half times the public tariff. I’d like to bring that into the political debate.” While he acknowledged that private doctors can charge more than the public tariff, he said, “This cannot grow endlessly; there must be an upper limit.”
Medical Chamber Strongly Opposed To Fee Caps
The Medical Chamber’s representative, Edgar Wutscher, firmly rejected the idea. He also disputed that private doctors charge ten to fifteen times the public tariff. “That Mr. Huss is trying to drive away the last competent physicians providing private care—I completely reject that statement. It’s false and simply not true,” he said on Ö1.
Wutscher, who heads the federal board of private practitioners, also opposed setting any cap on private fees: “We are a free profession, and only the doctor himself has the right to issue a bill that reflects the value of his service.” If a bill is truly excessive, patients can challenge it through the Medical Chamber, he added.
Vienna’s Medical Chamber President Johannes Steinhart also expressed concern about professional independence: “Private doctors play a key role in easing the burden on the public insurance system and hospitals—by offering quick appointments, longer consultations, and thorough clinical exams, they maintain healthcare access and public trust.” He warned that capping fees could ultimately endanger medical care.
Greens Push For National Health Contract
“The cap unfortunately doesn’t address the core issue,” said Green Party health spokesperson Ralph Schallmeiner in a statement responding to the proposal. While such a limit could help patients financially, “the debate is too narrow,” he said. “Our goal must be to ensure enough public insurance positions so that no one is forced to see private doctors.”
Schallmeiner called for a nationwide collective agreement: “Both the ÖGK and the Medical Chamber must finally deliver.” Negotiations over such an agreement have been ongoing for two years, with a resolution expected by mid-next year.
