During the deliberation in the Budget Committee of the National Council on Thursday, Minister of Social Affairs Johannes Rauch (Greens) was confident that the salary subsidy for nurses set for 2022 and 2023 could also be definitively introduced. No one would come up with the idea of scrapping payment again, he said — even though he generally expects “tough” financial equalization negotiations over future health care funding.
The Ministry of Social Affairs had already confirmed on Monday that the wage bonus announced by the federal government under the health care reform would be around 2,000 euros gross in 2022, with the amount to be paid in December. The federal states can increase this base amount, Lower Austria has already announced an increase of 500 euros (tax-free).
This year national uniform premium of 2000 euros
According to Thursday’s parliamentary correspondence, Rauch once again emphasized in the committee that the government officials of Social Affairs had agreed in principle to pay a nationwide uniform bonus of 2,000 euros this year. In the course of the following year, this bonus will be converted into a “monthly payment form based on the collective labor agreement”.
He regretted that the bonus was paid gross and not net: he would have personally welcomed it if the bonus could have been awarded tax-free, Rauch told the SPÖ. However, this was not enforceable with the Minister of Finance.
Rauch also confirmed that funding for 24-hour care should be increased. An agreement has already been reached with the federal states, he told MPs. The draft budget for 2023 has earmarked an extra 17.8 million euros for this, which, according to the minister, means an increase of 16.6 percent.
Source: Krone
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