Petition seeks insurance coverage for Schladming MRI scans

A petition launched on Monday calls for MRI scans in Schladming to be included in Styria’s Regional Health Structure Plan, which would allow patients to claim partial reimbursement. ORF reported that the campaign aims to improve access to scans in the Upper Enns Valley.

MRI examinations in Schladming are currently offered only on a private basis, meaning patients pay the full cost themselves. The petition’s initiator, Dieter Szolar of Diagnostikum Graz, said the Upper Enns Valley lacked adequate access to MRI scans despite high seasonal demand from residents and visitors.

Szolar said the Liezen district, which has about 80,000 residents, has MRI machines listed in the regional plan only at LKH Rottenmann hospital and in Liezen. He said waiting times showed that the current provision was insufficient. Schladming’s existing MRI machine is about a 50-minute drive from the next machines in Liezen or Salzburg.

Diagnostikum Schladming has operated an MRI machine at Diakonissen Hospital since early 2013 and now examines about 4,000 patients a year. More than three-quarters come from the region, according to Szolar, who said scans there could also help reduce waiting times for people from the Ausseerland.

Adding the facility to the regional plan would give it the status of a contracted private medical provider, allowing patients to seek partial reimbursement from social insurance. The petition says this could mean shorter journeys and waits, lower costs and faster diagnosis and treatment.

The petition asks Styria’s state politicians to address what it describes as a disadvantage in diagnostic imaging for the Upper Enns Valley. It runs until January 22, 2027, and can be signed online or on paper.