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Austria Health and Health Insurance
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the most common causes of
death were cardiovascular diseases, followed by cancer. Accidents
were the next most common causes of deaths in males. Respiratory
diseases and liver problems were also significant causes of
deaths (see
table 8, Appendix).
The traditional Austrian diet is high in fats, carbohydrates,
and sugar. Smoking is common--20 percent of women and 40 percent
of men smoke. Most adults regularly consume alcohol, in
particular beer and wine. An estimated 250,000 Austrians are
alcoholics, and the incidence of alcoholism is twice as high
among men as it is among women. As a result of these unhealthy
habits, the incidences of cardiovascular diseases and cirrhosis
of the liver are among the highest in Western Europe.
Beginning in the mid-1980s, Austrian health authorities
attempted to make the general public more aware of the dangers of
cholesterol, smoking, and alcohol. The government introduced a
program of preventive check-ups under the auspices of various
health insurance plans. As of 1990, however, only negligible
inroads had been made into traditional patterns of consumption,
which were more pronounced among men than women and contributed
to the higher incidence of fatal disease and the lower life
expectancy of men in Austria.
Austria ranks behind Hungary and Finland as a country with
one of the highest suicide rates in Europe. Although some
psychologists attribute the high rate to the national psyche--
such as an inability to openly carry out conflicts or the
tendency to direct aggression toward oneself--there is no
generally accepted explanation for this phenomenon. As elsewhere,
men in Austria are almost three times more prone than women to
commit suicide.
Public health authorities have had to deal with the spread of
acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) since 1983, when the
first cases were noted. As of mid-1993, slightly more than 600
Austrians had died of AIDS. The number of those infected with the
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was not known at that time,
but estimates range between 8,000 and 14,000.
By 1990 state-required health insurance covered 99 percent of
the population in Austria. Austrians also are required to pay
into compulsory health insurance plans, which are similar to
pension plans and are funded by employer and employee groups
organized by professions. Foreign workers also are covered by
these programs. Active employees and the self-employed, their
dependents, the retired, and the socially disadvantaged qualify
for medical coverage that includes out-patient treatment,
medication, some dental work, surgery, and hospitalization in the
so-called general class (general wards as opposed to private
rooms). With the exception of minimal flat-rate charges for
filling prescriptions and 10 percent of the overall charge for
the hospitalization of dependents, out-patient and in-patient
treatment is free for individuals covered by the health insurance
plans.
Out-patient treatment is almost exclusively handled by
physicians who have contracts with specific insurance agencies,
and patients are free to seek the physician of their choice
provided the physician has a contract with the patients'
respective insurance agency. Although many physicians are in
private practice, the great majority of them rely on these
contracts--which regulate fees for services rendered--to generate
the income they need to maintain their practices. This
arrangement means that Austrian medicine is not "socialized" in
the sense that physicians are employees of the state. However,
the system is similar to a national health plan insofar as fees
are regulated, and there is an exceptionally high degree of
coverage for the population at large. A drawback to this system
is that because physicians are free to establish their practices
wherever they choose, medical coverage is poorer in rural areas
than in urban centers.
Data as of December 1993
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