How much is health insurance in Austria? Every route priced for 2026

Which health insurance cost applies to you?

The health insurance cost that applies to you depends less on the insurer than on your situation: whether you work in Austria, already live here, study, or still have to apply for a first permit from abroad. Pick your box; the route itself is explained on health insurance in Austria.

Austria health insurance cost 2026 in 10 key numbers

How much is health insurance in Austria on each route?

Health insurance in Austria on the fixed-price routes costs between no extra contribution (a co-insured child) and €6,783 a year (ÖGK self-insurance at the full rate), with private permit cover in between. Spouse co-insurance depends on the earner’s income. This health insurance Austria cost table puts every route on the same basis, with the price per month in 2026, the cost for 12 months and the catch that decides whether you can use it.

ÖGK amounts are official values for 2026 (ÖGK self-insurance, student self-insurance). ÖGK self-insurance can be reduced on application if your finances are tight; we found no published reduced amount. ÖGK routes need an Austrian residence, so none of them can start before the first permit you file from abroad; for a first student permit, OeAD allows a written statement that ÖGK student insurance will be taken out after entry, plus travel insurance until ÖGK cover starts (OeAD; ask your residence authority whether it accepts it). The ÖGK side is explained on ÖGK self-insurance.

What does private health insurance in Austria cost? All 7 Care Austria prices

With Care Austria, private health insurance in Austria costs from €51 to €510 a month in 2026, depending on age band and term. The four unlimited tariffs need no extra declaration at Vienna’s MA 35; the three 364-day tariffs are cheaper but need one, and are contracts for up to 364 days. Age is the calendar year minus your year of birth, and the higher band applies from 1 January of the year you turn 50 or 65 (AVB premium table).

Against ÖGK self-insurance at €565.25 a month (2026), Care Austria Standard costs €410.25 less a month under 50 and €343.25 less at 50–64; at 65–74 the difference is €55.25. The two are not the same product. ÖGK is statutory cover with an e-card and a waiting period unless waived. Care Austria is a private contract with a 1-year minimum term and a 31-day general waiting period (waived if you buy before the trip or within 31 days of entry). Care Austria has no deductible for normal treatment, although illnesses, accident after-effects and infirmities that already exist when you apply carry an own share (AVB § 9). In your home country, Care Austria covers up to 28 days per insurance year (14 days if the first insurance year, which ends on 31 December, is shorter than 4 months) if each trip is reported in writing before departure; otherwise only 50 % of the maximum reimbursable costs are paid (AVB). What it covers and excludes is on Care Austria plans and prices, and how it compares with other permit insurers on Care Austria vs FeelSafe.

Care Concept AG is on Vienna's MA 35 list: unlimited Care Austria tariffs need no extra declaration, 364-day ones do (checked 30 October 2026) (wien.gv.at). Care Concept AG sells Care Austria, and HanseMerkur Versicherungsgruppe (Advigon Versicherung AG) is the insurer. If you have a pre-existing condition, ask in writing before you apply. Care Concept does not clearly state a maximum entry age, so ask before you apply if you are in the 65–74 band.

How much does ÖGK co-insurance add for a spouse?

ÖGK co-insurance of a spouse adds a statutory contribution of 3.4 % of the insured person’s contribution base (§ 51d ASVG; on a salary, roughly the gross pay up to the maximum contribution base, €6,930 a month in 2026, § 45 ASVG). The ÖGK describes that base as gross income or pension plus a pro-rata share of special payments. In its words, “Dieser beträgt 3,4 Prozent Ihres aktuellen Brutto-Einkommens oder Ihrer monatlichen Pension”, which means it is 3.4 percent of your current gross income or monthly pension (oegk.at; § 51d ASVG). Ask the ÖGK for the binding amount; the listed exemptions can reduce it to zero. No contribution is due, among other cases, while the co-insured partner raises a child in the household, after four years of child-raising, or when the earner’s net income is at or below €2,064.12 a month (2026). No extra contribution is due for children (ÖGK: “kostenfrei”). The spouse must live in Austria first. The rules and the waiting time are on ÖGK co-insurance.

These are examples only. The ÖGK adds a pro-rata share of special payments, so your bill can be higher. It can also be zero: at the lower incomes in the table the earner’s net income may be at or below the net-income limit above, and then no contribution is due, so ask the ÖGK. Later eligibility for co-insurance does not itself establish that Care Austria can end early; its ordinary minimum term is one year (AVB § 3).

What is the cheapest health insurance in Austria for foreigners?

The cheapest health insurance in Austria for foreigners is the cheapest option that the law accepts for your situation, and that changes once you live here. For a first settlement or family permit filed abroad, only private all-risk cover that pays in Austria works. For a first student permit, OeAD also allows a written statement that ÖGK student insurance will be taken out after entry, with travel insurance until then (OeAD; ask your residence authority whether it accepts it). Travel insurance is “in any case not sufficient” for settlement, student and family permits (bmi.gv.at, our translation). After arrival, statutory routes open up.

Vienna’s immigration office states: “Wenn Sie eine Wartezeit haben, müssen Sie die Wartezeit durch eine private Versicherung überbrücken”, which means that if you have a waiting period, you must bridge it with private insurance (wien.gv.at). Private cover can satisfy a first-permit need before statutory routes become available. Later eligibility for ÖGK or co-insurance does not itself establish that Care Austria can end early; its ordinary minimum term is one year. Students will find more on student health insurance in Austria and ÖGK student insurance.

What do foreigners pay? Health insurance in Austria for foreigners cost in 4 examples

Health insurance in Austria for foreigners costs very different amounts by life stage. The four illustrative examples below all start cover in 2026, so each age is that start year minus the year of birth, and every price comes from the tables above.

1. Student, born 2004 (22 in 2026)

For the first permit with private cover: Care Austria Education unlimited, €56 a month = €672 for the first 12 months (more if cover does not start on 1 January). Once eligible, she may consider ÖGK student self-insurance (Care Austria can be cancelled ordinarily first after one year, then only to 31 December with one month’s notice; an earlier end when ÖGK starts is not confirmed) at €78.84 a month (€946.08 a year) or stay private. The ÖGK option costs more but is statutory cover with an e-card. Visa and permit rules are on Austria student visa.

2. Worker with a gap, born 1990 (36 in 2026)

He gets a Red-White-Red Card, but the job starts three months after arrival. ÖGK self-insurance is no option for the application (it needs residence in Austria and has a 6-month waiting period unless waived). Care Austria Standard under 50 costs €155 a month. With the 1-year minimum, though, the commitment is €1,860, not three months’ premiums. Whether the contract can end early once job insurance starts is not confirmed, so ask Care Concept before you buy. For the RWR card itself, migration.gv.at says the authorities “will accept travel health insurance, provided it covers costs well above €30,000” and includes rescue and return costs, at the time of application. That answer applies to this route only, so check it before you commit to at least a year. The card itself is covered on Red-White-Red Card.

3. Couple, born 1968 and 1970 (58 and 56 in 2026)

For a settlement permit both need all-risk cover. Care Austria Standard unlimited (1-year minimum term) costs 2 × €222 = €444 a month, €5,328 a year; from 1 January 2028 2 × €268 = €536 a month. If both later took ÖGK self-insurance, possible once they live here, they would pay from the start of that cover, with benefits only after the waiting period unless waived: €1,130.50 a month. Whether one partner can be co-insured on the other’s self-insurance, and at what cost, the ÖGK decides. The permit rules are on Austria retirement visa.

4. Parent, born 1958 (68 in 2026)

Care Austria Standard 65–74 unlimited (1-year minimum term) costs €510 a month = €6,120 a year (from 2028: €617); the 364-day tariff costs €219 a month but needs the extra MA 35 declaration and is a 364-day contract, not 12 months, so its fit for a 12-month permit is not confirmed. ÖGK co-insurance through a child needs at least 10 months in the same household plus further conditions, so it cannot cover the first permit. All parent routes are compared on can I bring my parents to Austria?

Austria health insurance price over three years: what changes in 2028?

The Austria health insurance price of the Care Austria unlimited Standard tariff rises on 1 January 2028 under the policy terms (AVB § 5), so a three-year budget from 2026 is higher than three times the 2026 price. The table assumes cover from 1 January 2026 and no change of age band; if you turn 50 or 65 in the period, the higher band applies from 1 January of that year.

2027 assumes the 2026 premium (no step is scheduled before 2028). ÖGK contributions are set each year; we do not project them.

What can make health insurance in Austria cost more than the monthly price?

Health insurance in Austria can cost more than the monthly price because of minimum terms, waiting periods, age-band changes, the wrong tariff for your authority and two policies running at once. Check these before you compare monthly prices.

• Minimum term. Unlimited Care Austria tariffs can be cancelled ordinarily only after 1 year (AVB § 3), then to the end of each calendar year with one month’s notice. ÖGK self-insurance runs at least six months.
• Waiting periods. ÖGK self-insurance pays only after six months unless waived (after enough recent statutory cover in Austria, the EU/EEA or a treaty state whose agreement adds up insurance periods); Vienna requires private cover for that time. Care Austria has a 31-day general waiting period unless bought before travel or within 31 days of entry. That waiver covers only the general wait; childbirth and dentures have a separate 8-month wait.
• Age band. The price jumps on 1 January of the year you turn 50 or 65. Age is the calendar year minus your year of birth, not your birthday.
• 364-day tariff. Cheaper, but Vienna’s MA 35 needs an extra declaration for it, and it is a contract for up to 364 days, not an open-ended one.
• Two policies at once. If a job subject to compulsory insurance starts during a private contract, you pay both until the private one can end; we found no early-exit rule for this case in the policy terms.

These points come from the Care Austria AVB, Care Concept short information, ÖGK self-insurance, wien.gv.at. The full insurance rule for permits is on health insurance for an Austrian residence permit, and the other first-year costs are on cost of living in Austria and Austria visa fees.

How to cite and download the cost table (CSV)

The CSV file lists every priced route in the tables above with its monthly amount for 2026, the 2028 step where scheduled, the 12-month cost, conditions, source URL and check date. ÖGK amounts are official 2026 values; Care Austria prices come from Care Concept’s tariff page. We update the file when an amount changes.

How to cite: “How Much Is Health Insurance in Austria? (2026)”, Health Insurance Austria, https://health-insurance-austria.com/austria-health-insurance-cost/, updated 4 November 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Primary sources: oegk.at, oesterreich.gv.at, care-concept.de tariff page.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• ÖGK: self-insurance and oesterreich.gv.at: Selbstversicherung, on €565.25 a month (2026), the waiting period and the reduction (checked 30 October 2026)
• ÖGK: student self-insurance, on €78.84 a month (2026)
• ÖGK: co-insurance and § 51d ASVG (RIS), on the 3.4 % extra contribution
• ÖGK: marginal-earnings limit 2026
• City of Vienna (MA 35): health insurance for residence permits
• Interior Ministry: general requirements, where travel insurance is not sufficient for a residence title (the Red-White-Red Card application is the stated exception, with travel cover well above €30,000 incl. rescue and return costs, migration.gv.at)
• Care Concept: Care Austria tariff page, short information and policy terms (AVB), all insurer documents, read 30 October 2026

Our editorial standards and about this site pages explain how we work. This page is general information, not insurance or legal advice; prices and terms can change, and the insurer’s current documents and the residence authority decide. Referral links may earn us a commission from Care Concept AG at no extra cost to you (affiliate disclosure).