The dispute between dentists and the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK) over free Amalgan replacement is escalating: from the beginning of 2025, there will be no more free dental fillings in Austria!
There is a need for action because an EU-wide amalgam ban will come into effect at the beginning of 2025.
The ÖGK wants to use Alkasit as a replacement for health insurance benefits, but the dentists are against it. They only want to accept the glass ionomer cement, which is technically inferior in material, as free for the patients from the doctors’ point of view; everything else must remain a private service.
Warning for fewer statutory health insurers
Their argument: If the social insurance proposal were to be followed, additional, non-cost-recovery services would be provided: “The result would be a further thinning of the comprehensive dental care provided by contracted dentists,” the broadcast said. . Many services are in short supply or are not even reimbursed by social security. This means that the majority of dentists have been forced to cross-subsidize their health insurance benefits with private services for years. For many dentists, this is the reason to cancel their health insurance or not sign a health insurance policy at all.
Source: Krone
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