If you come from Germany, the Netherlands or Switzerland, you may be used to comparing insurers and choosing the one with the best price. Austria works the other way round. Your health insurance in Austria follows from what you do: you work, you are insured; you are self-employed, you are insured elsewhere; you do nothing, you must find cover yourself. Understand that logic and the rest falls into place.
How does health insurance in Austria work?
The Austrian system is compulsory social health insurance, financed by contributions and organised by occupation. The main bodies:
- ÖGK (Österreichische Gesundheitskasse): the main fund for employees.
- SVS (Sozialversicherungsanstalt der Selbständigen): the fund for the self-employed, for example traders who are members of the Economic Chamber, under the GSVG law.
You do not pick between funds, and you receive an e-card, the health card. On its back is your European Health Insurance Card, useful for treatment in other EU countries in the public system. The e-card also opens your electronic health record, and doctors can see data only when you insert the card and consent.
Private insurance exists on top, and some people use it for faster appointments or private hospital rooms. It is a complement, not a replacement, for the compulsory cover when you work.
What if you are an employee?
You are insured automatically, from the first day of employment. Your employer registers you and asks for your social security number; see tax number and e-card in Austria. Contributions come out of your payslip:
- Health insurance is 7.65% of gross salary in 2026: 3.87% deducted from your pay and 3.78% paid by your employer.
- This applies up to a monthly salary of €6,930 (the 2026 ceiling).
- Add pension (10.25%), unemployment (up to 2.95% depending on the salary) and small contributions: your payslip lists each deduction.
If you work part time with very low earnings, below €551.10 a month in 2026 (the geringfügige Beschäftigung threshold), you are not compulsorily insured. In that case voluntary health and pension insurance is recommended.
What if you are self-employed?
Your insurance depends on your status. A tradesperson with a business licence is insured under the GSVG, run by the SVS. In 2026, the self-employed pay 6.80% for health insurance (the State adds 0.85%), 18.50% for pension, 1.53% for the Selbständigenvorsorge and €12.95 a month for accident insurance. Check your affiliation with the SVS when you start.
Your cover can depend on small details: a part-time job, a foreign employer, a mix of pension and consulting. If you are unsure which category you fall into, Moovy can help you spot the questions to ask the ÖGK or the SVS. It cannot register you with them, but it can prepare the list.
What if you retire or have no job: health insurance in Austria without work?
For a retired person receiving a pension from another EU country, the standard route is an S1 form. You ask the body that pays your pension for it, then register it with the Austrian health insurance, usually the ÖGK. You are then treated like an insured person in Austria, at the cost of the paying country. If you also receive an Austrian pension, Austria covers you.
For anyone else without a job, you must show comprehensive health insurance to obtain your registration certificate (see Anmeldebescheinigung). Options include private insurance, or the voluntary insurance (Selbstversicherung) with the ÖGK, open to people who live in Austria and are not insured elsewhere. Its cost is €565.25 a month in 2026, with a reduction possible if your finances are difficult (it applies from the first payment if you ask when applying).
Two catches:
- Waiting period. With voluntary insurance, doctor, medicine and hospital costs are in principle covered only after six months, unless you were insured just before (six weeks) or for 26 weeks in the last 12 months.
- Former self-employed. If your last insurance was under the GSVG or BSVG, voluntary ÖGK insurance is possible only 60 months after that insurance ended.
Arranging cover before you leave is much cheaper than discovering these rules on arrival.
What about the European Health Insurance Card?
Keep it for your first days. The card covers medically necessary treatment during a temporary stay, from public contracted providers, but not private doctors or private hospitals. It is not a tool for settling: it does not replace comprehensive insurance and does not get you the registration certificate. When your Austrian cover starts, your own e-card takes over.
How do you see a doctor under health insurance in Austria?
Show your e-card at the doctor or hospital. If your e-card has not yet arrived, your social security number is enough at the doctor, and your insurer can give you a temporary replacement certificate. For help finding where to go, the national health advice line is 1450. For emergencies, call 112, or 144 for an ambulance. Out-of-hours doctor: 141.
The e-card requires a photo on file. If you have no Austrian passport, ID card or driving licence, bring a photo to the registration office. This is the most common reason for delay.
What changes for British and Swiss residents?
Swiss nationals follow the same logic as EU citizens: Swiss temporary cover for visits, S1 where Switzerland remains competent.
British citizens are covered like everyone else when they work or are self-employed in Austria. A retired person with a UK State Pension may be covered by the UK through an S1 form, requested from the NHS Overseas Healthcare Services and registered with the ÖGK, which issues an e-card. Those who arrived before 2021 are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement; others by the protocol of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which is close to the EU rules but not identical. A residence title is also needed; see moving to Austria from the UK.
Which mistakes should you avoid?
- Expecting to choose a fund as in Germany.
- Arriving without activity and without cover. The waiting period for voluntary insurance is six months in principle.
- Using the EHIC as a settling insurance.
- Forgetting the photo for the e-card.
For the whole sequence of first steps, see the guide to moving to Austria.
What does the public system cover, and what does it not?
The e-card gives you access to the public health system: contracted doctors, hospitals and prescribed medicines under the rules of your fund. The details of what is covered, what co-payments exist and how much a dental or eye treatment costs vary with your fund and the treatment, and our sources do not list them. Ask your fund for its benefit brochure, and ask any doctor whether they hold a contract with your fund before you book. Private doctors and private hospitals are paid by you, and may be reimbursed in part, depending on your fund.
If you take out additional private cover, read the exclusions and waiting periods with the same care as you would for voluntary insurance. A policy with a long waiting period does not help if you fall ill in the first months.
What about accident insurance and maternity?
Accident insurance covers workplace accidents and occupational diseases for employees, the self-employed, pupils, students and certain protected persons such as volunteers in aid organisations. For employees, it is part of the compulsory package; for the self-employed, the SVS charges €12.95 a month in 2026.
Family members can be co-insured under the health insurance of an insured person (Mitversicherung), which matters for a partner or children who do not work. Ask the fund which documents it wants: passports or birth certificates, and a marriage certificate where relevant. We do not give figures for maternity cover here, because our sources for this article do not detail it. Ask the fund directly.
How do you plan the move so that you are never uncovered?
A sensible order, whichever route you take:
- Before leaving, request your S1 if you are a pensioner, or check how long your current cover continues.
- Keep your European Health Insurance Card for the first days, as it will cover necessary care during a temporary stay.
- When you start work, give your employer your documents so that they can register you; check that the e-card photo is on file.
- If you have no job, arrange comprehensive cover in advance, since a six-month waiting period for voluntary insurance leaves you exposed in the first months.
- Keep proof of all your insurance documents, since the authority asks for them when you apply for your registration certificate.