Ex-post control
3.1.2 Discrimination based on illness or disability
No wheelchair access to doctor’s practice
Persons with disabilities must be granted the right to access free or affordable
health care to the same extent and according to the same level of quality as
persons without disabilities.
Accessible practices
are rare
A young father of a family from Burgenland has been suffering from a severe
muscular disease since 2011, making him dependent on an electric wheelchair.
He regularly has to visit different doctors, which is difficult, because accessible
national insurance practices in the city of Eisenstadt and the surrounding area are
rare. The father of two cannot afford to visit the accessible Eisenstadt health centre
because of the high consultation fees. His health insurance, the Burgenland Public
Regional Health Insurance Office pays only a proportion of the costs for selected
doctors.
No free choice of
doctors
This situation is not in keeping with the international requirements of equal rights
for persons with disabilities. The Austrian National Council of Disabled Persons the umbrella organization for disability associations in Austria - also recorded in
its 2013 report that the limited offer of accessible practices results in persons with
disabilities only being able to visit the doctor of their choice infrequently. The AOB
brought up this case in its TV show „Bürgeranwalt“ (Advocate for the People) that is
broadcasted by the Austrian public broadcaster ORF and demanded that affordable
access to health services be granted to persons with disabilities to the same extent
and according to the same level of quality as for people without disabilities - as set
out in Sections 9 and 25 UN CRPD. An improvement in the information regarding
accessible access and facilities at doctor’s practices was also requested.
Improvements have
been announced
The Burgenland Public Regional Health Insurance Office promised in the TV show
that it would make the necessary updates to its list of doctors for 2014 and provide
details as to which practices are wheelchair accessible. However, the Burgenland
Public Regional Health Insurance Office stated that it would not pay the full doctor’s
costs for the man in question.
The Burgenland Public Regional Health Insurance Office asserted that accessible
access to consultation rooms has been a requirement for new insurance contracts
since a master contract between the Central Association for Social Insurance
Companies and the Medical Association for Burgenland from 1999. According to
the responsible Federal Ministry of Health, similar agreements exist for Carinthia,
Vorarlberg, Salzburg and Vienna. In terms of practices constructed and approved
before 1999, the Burgenland Public Regional Health Insurance Office referred to
the Austrian Federal Act on the Equalisation of Persons with Disabilities (BundesBehindertengleichstellungsgesetz). According to this, such practices must achieve
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