Vorarlberg home nursing care faces 659,000-euro funding gap

Vorarlberg’s home nursing care services ended 2025 with a deficit of 658,903 euros, ORF reported. The 66 associations cared for 9,336 patients, while funding from the Austrian Health Insurance Fund fell significantly despite rising demand for care.

The services are financed through the state’s Social Fund, which provides 49 percent, the associations’ own funds at 34 percent, health insurance funds at 10 percent and municipalities at 7 percent. In 2025, income totalled 23.582 million euros, compared with expenditure of 24.241 million euros.

Johanna Rebling-Neumayr, managing director of the state association, said the figures needed to be put into context. The main problem was the way the Austrian Health Insurance Fund, known as ÖGK, reimbursed home nursing care.

Services are billed through a points system. A point value of 5.96 euros would have been needed to cover costs, but the ÖGK used the value from 2023. Rebling-Neumayr said this amounted to a value that had not reflected any increases. Instead of the approximately 2.3 million euros needed, about 1.9 million euros was paid, leaving a shortfall of around 268,800 euros for 2025.

After lengthy negotiations, the ÖGK raised the point value to 5.48 euros and paid an additional 90,000 euros. A remaining gap of almost 180,000 euros persists. Rebling-Neumayr said the ÖGK would not continue the existing contract with Vorarlberg’s home nursing care services in its current form. Further negotiations are planned, although no date has been set.

Personnel costs also rose by 6.6 percent last year. New salary scales and a two-stage pay increase were introduced in 2025, but some of the additional costs were not reimbursed until the first months of this year. This reduced the funding gap somewhat, but the deficit still exceeded the approximately 440,000-euro shortfall recorded in 2024.

According to the association, 91.9 percent of its employees are women. Each nurse in Vorarlberg cares for an average of 27 patients. The organisation is well staffed and continues to attract employees, but finding volunteers has become more difficult. Older people and pensioners are more likely than younger people to take on voluntary roles, although the associations consider volunteers essential as local contacts in villages.

Rebling-Neumayr, who has led the state association since October 2024, said the framework conditions had changed considerably. She nevertheless described home nursing care as extremely important and increasingly so, adding that the service was indispensable and that there was awareness of the need for change.

Health Minister Martina Rüscher of the Austrian People’s Party said the state Social Fund would remain a stable and important partner for home nursing care. She said the state recognised its responsibility, particularly in view of the financial situation.