A solution will be presented in around 14 days, he said following a round of negotiations with the medical association on Tuesday.
In the suspected case of Corona, tests in the ordinations were free for those affected until the end of March; the federal government covered the costs until then. A positive corona test is a prerequisite for high-risk patients to be entitled to the antiviral drug Paxlovid. The prescription of this medication is linked to a positive test.
Self-tests are also valid as proof
Lehner emphasized that the Medical Association has assured that self-administered tests or tests carried out in pharmacies are currently accepted in these cases.
Since the Ministry of Health allowed the relevant regulation to expire on April 1st, patients currently have to cover the costs of a test with a doctor themselves. The insurance company is currently only refunding an amount of five euros, says Lehner.
Last week, following criticism from the Medical Association, the Ministry of Health said that all services for treatment in private practices would be covered by the health insurance company. “Only during the pandemic were services exceptionally financed by the federal government,” it said. It is therefore up to the social insurance and the medical association to quickly come to an agreement here.
Details still open, but agreement in sight
This agreement is now likely to be within sight, as Lehner said following the round of negotiations with the medical association on Tuesday. Although details are still open, a “very constructive and creative way has been found that still needs to be translated into numbers and all the data,” says Lehner. It will now take around two weeks “until we can finally fix this”. In any case, test costs at the doctor’s office should be covered once more for high-risk patients. Lehner emphasized that there is currently “great luck” in that there are virtually no Covid cases at the moment.
The medical association also referred to the ongoing negotiations. The umbrella organization of social insurance providers is currently “calculating the quantity structure for the necessary package for high-risk patients consisting of testing, advice and education”. The Federal Curia of Resident Doctors is “still convinced that the end to free tests would be a mistake and is therefore striving to quickly – within 14 days – reach a patient-oriented and fair solution.”
