Health insurance for displaced people after May 2025

Until 31 May 2025, displaced persons from Ukraine were included in mandatory health insurance under a dedicated provision. That provision was not extended — and from 1 June 2025, insurance coverage under it no longer exists. What followed was the quietest and most unpleasant part: many people found out only when they were already sitting in a doctor's office.

What exactly has ended

What ended is inclusion in mandatory insurance by law — not access to healthcare altogether. For those who had previously been insured, a six-week transitional grace period applied: until 12 July 2025, limited access to doctors, hospitals and medication was retained. With it, automatic exemptions from prescription fees also came to an end.

Three ways to remain in the system

The first and simplest is employment: any job above the marginal earnings threshold creates mandatory insurance automatically, from the first day of work. This is the case where employment resolves not only the question of income.

The second is voluntary self-insurance with ÖGK for a monthly contribution. The deadline here is critical: an application submitted within six weeks of the end of the previous insurance provides continuous coverage with no gap.

The third is co-insurance as a family member of an insured person. For certain categories of relatives, an additional contribution of 3.4 % of the insuring person's assessment base applies. For children, no additional contribution is required in most cases.

If you are unsure whether you have active coverage, this can be checked with a single enquiry to ÖGK — and it is better to do so before your next visit to the doctor, not after.