Don’t settle a collective bargaining dispute on the backs of patients

The situation regarding amalgam replacement is quite clear: Negotiating contracts for a free alternative to amalgam fillings is the responsibility of social security and the Dental Association (ÖZÄK). “Therefore, like many others, I expect everyone involved to focus on the interests of the patients,” says the health spokesman for the Green Party, Ralph Schallmeiner, appealing to the two parties to the dispute, the ÖGK and the Dental Association, to resolve the dispute that has gotten out of hand to no longer carry the amalgam replacement on the patient’s back.

“The fact that a new solution is needed from the turn of the year is not something that just fell out of the sky. The amalgam ban had been foreseeable for some time. The fact that there is still no agreement on a successor product is all the more annoying. This whole situation is being carried out on the backs of the patients, who in the worst case scenario will have to pay for dental fillings themselves from January 1st,” criticizes Schallmeiner and continues: “We have to blame each other, as the ÖGK and ÖZÄK are currently doing no time. The parties to the dispute must sit down at the table and find a solution for those affected. The patients have priority.”