Driver’s licenses
This year, we do not collect your drivers driver’s licenses before the event. Instead you have to provide them at the event, most likely during the egress test.
So please remind your drivers to have their licenses with them at the competition!
HICs (Health Insurance Certificates)
Some of you might wonder why we don’t need your health insurance card this year. During the last years we required it because every other competition did. But we’ve done some research – turns out:
- No other Austrian race competition asks the participants to proof of a valid health insurance. After reading some legislative texts we’ve found out that we are not obliged to take care whether the participants are covered or not.
- Nearly all participants are from countries with mandatory health insurance which have some kind of contract with the Austrian insurance carriers.
- Scans of European health insurance cards are neither accepted by doctors nor by hospitals.
- All participants from non EU/contract countries have to pay for their treatment. (They may get some money back from their insurance companies) Or buy a private abroad-health insurance in their home countries.
- We can’t read/understand/validate half of the insurance documents from non European countries.
As you can see neither you nor we have any benefits if we harvest your insurance documents.
That does not mean it is not a good idea to have your HIC with you! It may enable the hospital to negotiate the payment details with your insurance company to avoid costly up-front payments!
We have collected some useful information for you.
Please read it carefully!
Health insurance in Austria for foreigners
National health insurance
Austria has a good public national insurance system with local public carriers(Gebietskrankenkassen) in all nine federal provinces. Under certain conditions foreign national insurance carriers cover the costs for medical treatment of acute illness in Austria. Therefore we recommend you to contact your health insurance carrier in your home country and enquire about this and if available, procure the necessary forms from them.
If you are from an EU/EEA country or Switzerland and are in possession of a valid national health insurance in your home country, you need the European Health Insurance Card. This card is issued by your health insurance carrier.
In case you have a valid national health insurance in a country that has concluded a health insurance agreement with Austria (at the moment these are the following countries: Bosnia, Croatia, Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey), you have to bring along the A3 form, which is available from your national health insurance carrier. This form you have to exchange for forms that entitle you to medical treatment in Austria (Krankenscheine, “Krankenkassenschecks”) at the relevant Austrian health insurance carrier (Gebietskrankenkasse).
Private health insurance
Finally, it is possible to take out a private or travel insurance. The benefits of such insurances differ greatly from one to the other; therefore please enquire about the details. Please make sure to take out an insurance that covers medical treatment in the whole of Austria and that it provides sufficient cover for various types of illness (it would be ideal if it also covers transport back to your home country). Travel insurances have to be taken out before travelling to Austria.
Cash/credit card
If you don’t have any insurance Austrian doctors will only do the bare minimum to save your life except you pay for more. Most private health insurance companies also require you to pay for your treatment in advance.
Conclusion
Money is the best health insurance. No matter where you come from or what insurance you have you always should have a credit card or enough cash with you.