Requirements
In order for the costs of a planned treatment abroad to be covered by your health insurance provider, the following conditions must be met:
• The medical treatment is carried out in a member state of the European Union, an EEA country (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein), or in Switzerland. In rare individual cases, costs are also covered for treatment in other states. In these cases, usually only cost reimbursement is possible, and not full cost coverage. Please contact your health insurance institution in advance .
• The medical treatment is recognized in Austria as a medical service provided by the statutory health insurance.
• The medical treatment cannot be performed in Austria, or cannot be carried out within a medically justifiable timeframe.
• Your treating physician or the respective treatment facility (such as a hospital) must deem the treatment abroad as necessary. Please provide a written explanation as to why the treatment in Austria is not possible. Ideally, the confirmation should come from a university hospital. The confirmation should already specify a specific physician or treatment facility.
Authorisation
If the treatment is approved, you will receive a claim form if the costs can be settled directly with your health insurance institution. You have to give this form to your attending physician abroad.
Accounting of costs
If your treating physician or the foreign hospital has a contract with the foreign health insurance institution, and the treatment abroad is a service covered by the health insurance institution there, then the costs will be settled directly with the respective foreign health insurance.