Care Austria insurance: all prices by age, cover and limits (2026)

How does Care Austria compare with ÖGK self-insurance and travel insurance?

Care Austria can be bought before the trip for a first permit. ÖGK self-insurance needs a residence in Austria and, for non-EU/EEA/Swiss citizens, a valid permit, and for a residence title travel insurance is “in any case not sufficient” (BMI, 2026). There are two exceptions. For a Red-White-Red Card application, migration.gv.at accepts travel health insurance covering well above €30,000 incl. rescue and return costs (migration.gv.at). For a first student permit, OeAD allows a written statement that ÖGK student insurance (€78.84 a month, 2026) will be taken out after entry, with travel insurance until then (oead.at). Ask your residence authority. The table below sets out the facts only, for 2026.

Care Austria unlimited has a 1-year minimum term (AVB § 3), and the unlimited Standard tariff rises from 1 January 2028 (AVB § 5). The ÖGK self-insurance facts come from oegk.at.

Which Care Austria tariff fits your situation?

Care Austria Education is for people aged 12–35 whose main purpose is education or a working holiday (€56 a month unlimited, AVB § 1). Everyone else takes Care Austria Standard by calendar-year age band (age = current year minus year of birth), at €155 (0–49), €222 (50–64) or €510 (65–74) a month unlimited in 2026. Both unlimited tariffs have a 1-year minimum term (AVB § 3), and unlimited Standard rises from 1 January 2028 (AVB § 5). The prices in the boxes below are 2026 prices per insured person and month.

Care Austria key facts and where they come from

Care Austria has no deductible for normal treatment, and its cover ends when you receive an unlimited residence permit such as Daueraufenthalt EU (AVB § 6). The table lists the core rules, each with the document it comes from.

How much does Care Austria cost in 2026?

Care Austria costs between €51 and €510 a month in 2026 (Care Concept tariff page, 2026), depending on your age, whether you qualify for the Education tariff, and whether you pick the unlimited term (1-year minimum term, AVB § 3) or the 364-day term (extra MA 35 declaration). The table lists the seven published monthly premiums, re-checked on 30 October 2026 on Care Concept AG’s English tariff page.

How your age is counted. The premium table uses the calendar year minus your year of birth, not your birthday. The higher band applies from 1 January of the year in which you turn 50 or 65. Someone born in 1977 pays the under-50 price of €155 in 2026 and the 50–64 price of €222 from 1 January 2027, even if their birthday is in December.

Scheduled price steps. The unlimited Standard premiums are not fixed. The policy terms (AVB § 5) set a step every fourth insurance year, the first on 1 January 2028. When a step takes effect you have a special right to cancel within one month of the notice.

Source: AVB § 5 and premium table. For the Education tariffs, the premium table says the premium is guaranteed until the education or training ends, but only until age 36 (counted as for Standard) and for at most six years; ask Care Concept AG for the current Education discount. Compare ÖGK self-insurance at €565.25 a month (2026), or see what health insurance costs in Austria.

What is the difference between Care Austria 364 and unlimited?

Care Austria 364 differs from the unlimited tariff in term and paperwork. Care Austria 364 runs for up to 364 days and costs less. Under the AVB termination provisions, the unlimited tariff's cover ends when you leave Austria for good or receive an unlimited residence permit, and ordinary cancellation is first possible after one year, then only to 31 December with one month’s notice. For a residence permit in Vienna that matters, because the City of Vienna names only the unlimited Care Austria and Care Austria Education without an extra declaration. For the 364 versions, MA 35 asks for a contractual extra declaration that the contract will not be cancelled if a missing intention to return home is found later.

Because the insurance year is the calendar year, a contract that starts on 1 October 2026 can end at the earliest on 31 December 2027 (AVB § 3).

What is Care Austria Education, and who can take it?

Care Austria Education is the Care Austria student health insurance for people aged 12 to 35 whose main purpose in Austria is education or a working holiday, for example students, interns, volunteers or trainees and au pairs (AVB Teil B II; see study in Austria). It costs €56 a month unlimited or €51 for the 364-day version (extra MA 35 declaration) in 2026, against €155 for the unlimited Standard tariff at the same age (both unlimited tariffs have a 1-year minimum term, AVB § 3). In the policy terms, Education is a discount group (Rabattgruppe) of Care Austria with its own premium (AVB Teil B II).

What happens at 36? The policy terms say that turning 36 during the contract does not end your insurance; you simply leave the discount group and pay the Standard premium of your age band. That is useful for a student who stays on for a master’s or doctorate. Membership of the Education group also ends when education or the working holiday is no longer the main reason for your stay, or when an au-pair contract ends; the policy terms then allow a switch to Standard (AVB Teil B II 3). If you are a non-degree or preparatory student and unsure whether your course counts as “education”, ask Care Concept AG before applying. Students comparing the ÖGK student rate of €78.84 a month (2026) should read ÖGK student insurance vs private. That rate needs a residence in Austria first.

What does Care Austria health insurance cover, and when does it start?

Care Austria covers medical treatment in Austria with no deductible for normal treatment, after the waiting periods in the policy terms. In addition, a § 15 “general declaration” in the policy terms says that in Austria the risks covered by Austrian statutory (ÖGK) insurance count as covered, and the insurer waives exclusions, limits and waiting periods that would not fit that standard.

Buy before you travel or within 31 days of arriving, and the general waiting period does not apply.

Does Care Austria cover pre-existing conditions?

Care Austria’s policy terms set an own share of €5,000 a year and a €30,000 contract cap for illnesses, accident after-effects and infirmities that already existed when you applied (AVB § 9), while the § 15 general declaration for Austria works at ÖGK level. Ask Care Concept AG in writing before you apply. The two rules pull in different directions, and Care Concept AG has not yet confirmed to us how they work together.

• § 9: for illnesses, accident after-effects and infirmities that already existed when you applied, you carry an own share of €5,000 per insured person and insurance year, and benefits for them are capped at €30,000 over the whole contract.
• § 15 (general declaration for Austria): risks that Austrian statutory insurance covers count as covered, and the insurer waives exclusions and limits that do not fit that standard; caps and own shares apply only at that statutory level.

Care Concept AG has not confirmed to us how § 15 works with the waiting periods, so ask about them too before you apply.

If you or a parent has a known condition (diabetes, a heart problem, a past cancer), write to Care Concept AG before you buy, describe the condition, and keep the written answer with your policy. We will update this page when Care Concept AG confirms the rule.

Is Care Concept AG on Vienna’s MA 35 insurer list?

Care Concept AG is on the City of Vienna’s (MA 35) list of health insurers for residence permits; Care Austria and Care Austria Education (the unlimited tariffs) need no extra declaration (wien.gv.at, checked 30 October 2026). For the 364 tariffs MA 35 needs a contractual extra declaration, so ask Care Concept to confirm that your papers include it. The Vienna page adds two more points:

• Waiting periods must be bridged with private insurance.
• Care Austria and Care Austria Education end automatically when Daueraufenthalt EU is granted, and another insurance is needed for that application; under the policy terms (AVB § 6) cover also ends when another unlimited permit is granted.

Being on the list is not an approval of your application, and MA 35 still checks each case. For contacts and processing times in Vienna, see MA 35 Vienna in English; for the legal insurance rule itself, see health insurance for an Austrian residence permit.

Which municipalities and district authorities recognize Care Austria?

Vienna (MA 35) and Linz are the two authorities we found with a published list that names Care Concept AG. For the other provinces and district authorities (Bezirkshauptmannschaften) we found no official list, so we cannot say how they treat Care Austria. Care Concept AG itself states on its English page that the insurance is “recognized by all municipalities and authorities in Austria (e.g. listed with MA 35 in Vienna)”; that is the provider’s claim, not an official statement.

Outside Vienna and Linz, the legal test is the same everywhere: insurance covering all risks and paying benefits in Austria (§ 11 (2) 3 NAG). If you apply at a district authority, ask its office which papers it wants with the policy.

Care Austria Krankenversicherung: what the German contract means for you

Your contract is in German. The policy terms say “Vertragssprache ist Deutsch” (the contract language is German), and the English page calls the German version the legally binding one. German-language searches for Care Austria Versicherung or Krankenversicherung lead to the same product. The table lists the German words you will meet in your papers.

We found no statement that the policy certificate is issued in English. If your authority asks for a translation, ask Care Concept AG what it can provide.

Worked example: what does a family pay in the first year?

Illustrative example: Amira lives in Vienna and wants her mother, born in 1960, to join her on a settlement permit. In 2026 her mother’s age for the premium table is 66, so the unlimited Standard tariff for 65–74 applies: €510 a month (2026 price, 1-year minimum term, AVB § 3), or €6,120 over the first twelve months. From 1 January 2028 the monthly premium steps up to €617. Because the contract is unlimited, it cannot be cancelled ordinarily during the first year, and after that only to 31 December with one month’s notice (AVB § 3).

Why not ÖGK? ÖGK self-insurance costs €565.25 a month in 2026, needs a residence in Austria and a valid permit, and pays benefits only after a 6-month waiting period unless that is waived (oegk.at). For a first permit it is therefore not available, and Vienna’s MA 35 page says waiting periods must be bridged privately. Compare the routes in ÖGK self-insurance vs private cover. For all routes side by side, see health insurance in Austria.

Amira’s 24-year-old brother comes as a master’s student: Care Austria Education unlimited, €56 a month (2026 price, 1-year minimum term), €672 a year. Before buying for her mother, Amira writes to Care Concept AG to confirm that a new contract can start at 66 and to ask about her mother’s blood-pressure treatment.

What are the limits of Care Austria?

Care Austria’s main limits are that it ends when Daueraufenthalt EU is granted, unlimited contracts cannot be cancelled ordinarily in the first year, unlimited Standard premiums rise on 1 January 2028, and pre-existing conditions follow special rules (AVB §§ 3, 5, 6, 9). For the Daueraufenthalt EU application itself, the City of Vienna says you must take out another insurance (wien.gv.at); which kind MA 35 accepts is not stated, so ask MA 35 before you apply.

Care Austria is also not for people who are compulsorily insured with the ÖGK, for example through a job subject to compulsory insurance (a marginal job of up to €551.10 a month, 2026, gives accident insurance only). Red-White-Red Card holders, for example, are statutorily insured once they take up employment (migration.gv.at). How a running Care Austria contract ends at that point is not described clearly enough in the documents for us to promise an early exit, so ask Care Concept AG first.

How do I apply for Care Austria?

You apply online with Care Concept AG; it takes four decisions. Our step-by-step apply page has the checklist.

1. 1
   Work out your age band

   Age = the calendar year minus your year of birth (for cover starting in 2027, use 2027). The higher band starts on 1 January of the year you turn 50 or 65.

2. 2
   Pick unlimited or 364-day

   For a residence permit, the unlimited tariffs are the ones Vienna’s MA 35 names without an extra declaration. The 364-day tariffs need one.

3. 3
   Choose the start date

   Cover cannot start before you enter Austria or before the first premium is paid. Apply before travelling or within 1 year of entry; later only with proof of continuous earlier cover (see the FAQ below).

4. 4
   Apply online and keep the papers

   Care Concept says it sends the additional declaration for the authorities along with the policy. Hand in the policy and that declaration with your permit application; for the 364 tariffs, ask Care Concept to confirm that your papers include the contractual extra declaration MA 35 needs.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• § 11 NAG (Settlement and Residence Act), RIS, on insurance “covering all risks” that pays in Austria
• City of Vienna (MA 35): health insurance for residence permits (checked 30 October 2026)
• Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI): residence and health insurance, on travel insurance being “in any case not sufficient” for a residence title (the exceptions are a Red-White-Red Card application, with travel cover well above €30,000 incl. rescue and return costs per migration.gv.at, and a first student permit with an ÖGK student-insurance statement, per OeAD)
• migration.gv.at: frequently asked questions, on travel health insurance at a Red-White-Red Card application
• OeAD: residence permit Student, on the written statement on ÖGK student insurance after entry
• ÖGK: self-insurance, with €565.25 a month in 2026 and the 6-month waiting period
• Care Austria policy terms (AVB VB-KV 2023_10) (insurer document, read 30 October 2026)
• Care Concept: Care Austria English tariff page, for the prices (read 30 October 2026)
• Magistrat Linz: accepted private health insurers (list dated 12.12.2025, checked 30 October 2026)

Our editorial standards explain how we work; see also about this site, and send questions or corrections through contact. For related reading, see about Care Concept and Care Austria vs FeelSafe and Care Austria vs Swisscare (information only).

This page is general information, not insurance advice; the policy terms and the authority decide. Referral links on this page may earn us a commission from Care Concept AG at no extra cost to you (affiliate disclosure).