Claims & tips
Claims & tips
Valuable tips on claims & more
If you have a hearing impairment, you can take advantage of a wide range of support from various institutions in Austria. Here you can find a list of your rights, funding entitlements, grants and other tips that can be helpful in everyday life.
Table of contents
Financial support
Below you will find direct links to the relevant offices. This data is regularly checked to ensure that it is up to date. Should you nevertheless come across incorrect information or if you are missing important information, we would be pleased to hear from you so that this page can be updated immediately.
Determination of the degree of disability
In order to be able to assert possible claims, the degree of your disability must be determined. This is measured according to the type and severity of the functional impairment by the so-called EVO assessment ordinance.
You can find more information at https://sozialministeriumservice.at/
Care allowance
Care allowance can be received if the following conditions are met:
- Permanent need for care and assistance due to a physical, mental or psychological disability or sensory impairment that is expected to last at least six months
- Permanent need for care of at least more than 65 hours per month
- Habitual residence in Austria, whereby care allowance can also be granted in the EEA area and in Switzerland under certain conditions
The amount of the care allowance is determined in seven stages, depending on the extent of the care required and regardless of the cause of the need for care.
Find out more about the care allowance
You can apply for care allowance from your social insurance provider:
- Pension insurance institution
- Insurance Institution for Public Employees, Railways and Mines (BVAEB)
- Social insurance for the self-employed (SVS)
Further information can be found in the brochure: "Information on care allowance - explained in plain language"
Disability pass
The disability pass is an official photo ID and serves as standardized proof of a disability (regardless of the type of disability). Persons with a degree of disability or a reduction in earning capacity of at least 50 percent who are resident or ordinarily resident in Austria are entitled to a disability pass.
You submit the application to the Social Ministry Service. Having a disability pass does not entitle you to any financial benefits. However, presenting the document (sometimes also in other EU countries) entitles you to discounts, for example on admission to various cultural and leisure facilities, events, sights, excursion destinations, ski resorts etc.
Tax equalization
Here you will find all the information you need on extraordinary expenses for disabilities and which costs you can deduct from your taxes!
In the case of physical and mental disabilities, lump sums without deductibles reduce income. Taxpayers are considered disabled if the degree of disability is at least 25 percent. The lump sum depends on the degree of disability. The lump sum is not available if care allowance is received throughout the year.
Expenses for aids that are not regularly incurred (e.g. wheelchair, hearing aid, aids for the blind, etc.) are recognized additionally and without reduction by the deductible. In the event of a disability, the costs of medical treatment (e.g. doctor and hospital costs, spa and therapy costs, costs of medication) in connection with the disability can also be taken into account in addition to the lump sum and without reduction by the deductible.
Disabled pensioners can claim the above-mentioned lump sums either from the tax office or from their pension-paying body.
Broadcasting fee (ORF contribution)
Beneficiaries with disabilities have the option of applying for an exemption from broadcasting fees.
Green electricity flat rate
Exemption or capping of green electricity subsidy costs - disabled people with a disability have the option of applying for an exemption from the green electricity flat rate.
Cell phone tariffs
Some mobile phone providers offer special, often discounted tariffs for people with hearing impairments:
ÖBB
With your disability pass, you can travel with ÖBB throughout Austria at a 50% discount. You do not need a discount card, but save directly on every journey with ÖBB. This also applies to the Austria-wide climate ticket. To take advantage of the offer, you need an Austrian Disabled Pass with the following details:
- Indication of the degree of disability of at least 70 percent or
- Entry "The holder of the pass can claim the fare reduction according to the Federal Disability Act."
Accompanying persons or assistance dogs travel free of charge if this is noted in the disability pass.
Valuable tips
Additional supporting technology
MED-EL offers a range of connection options for your audio processor. These can be used to easily connect technical devices such as telephones, TV sets etc. to the implant system. You can find more information here.
Useful additional devices for hearing implant users, such as alarm systems, FM systems, streaming devices, etc., are offered by the company ihrzubeHÖR and the ZENTRUM HÖREN:
MED-EL offers a range of connection options for your audio processor. These can be used to easily connect technical devices such as telephones, TV sets etc. to the implant system. You can find more information here!
Migration & Diversity
Even today, people with a migrant background still make less than average use of medical help and miss out on preventative measures in particular. One reason for this is certainly that they often do not know what rights and options they have for examination and treatment and what subsidies they are entitled to.
Hearing impairment is therefore an additional language barrier and a major challenge for those affected and for specialist staff.
Here you will find contacts for support and the opportunity to exchange ideas, so that you can be optimally supported in the phase of deciding on a hearing aid and the time afterwards:
Insurance
After cochlear implantation, the initial fitting of the audio processor takes place at the clinic around three to four weeks later. The audio processor is a high-tech device with a monetary value of at least € 10,000. Even if Austria's social insurance covers repairs and services, this does not apply to loss, theft and misuse. For this reason, it is advisable to take out private insurance for voice processors. Both Allianz and Donau-Versicherung offer corresponding insurance policies.
Here you can find the forms of both insurance providers: Insurance forms
It is not what we experience, but how we feel,
what we experience determines our destiny.
Marie Baroness von Ebner-Eschenbach
