Ministry of Defense sets new cost rates for military medical transport

The Federal Minister of Defence, Klaudia Tanner, has redefined the average costs for medical transport and institutional care for eligible persons. The corresponding ordinance was promulgated on October 19, 2026, in the Federal Law Gazette for the Republic of Austria, Part II, under number BGBl. II No. 306/2026. It comes into force on November 1, 2026, and replaces the previous regulation BGBl. II No. 44/2021.

Legal Basis and Scope

The ordinance is based on the Army Fees Act 2001, which was most recently amended by the Federal Act BGBl. I No. 77/2024. It concerns the billing of costs for eligible persons, i.e., the group of people entitled to medical transport and institutional care under the Army Fees Act.

The regulation exclusively covers average costs, which serve as calculation figures for billing between the Federation and the affected institutions. The ordinance systematically distinguishes between transport using army vehicles, flights using army helicopters, as well as inpatient and outpatient treatment in army medical facilities.

Cost Rates for Transport

For transport using an army-owned motor vehicle, § 1 of the ordinance specifies a rate per kilometer. For helicopter transports, flat rates per flight hour apply, which differ depending on the type of transport and the number of persons transported:

• €3.09 per kilometer with an army-owned motor vehicle
• €646.55 per flight hour for a primary single transport with an army-owned helicopter
• €323.28 per person and flight hour for a primary double transport

The double transport is thus at the level of half the single rate per person, which the ordinance clarifies through the explicit specification “per person.”

Cost Rates for Institutional Care

§ 2 of the ordinance regulates the stay and treatment costs in an army-owned medical facility. A distinction is made between full inpatient care and outpatient care:

• €989.71 per day for inpatient care
• €119.55 per treatment for outpatient treatment

Thus, the new regulation covers both the inpatient and outpatient sectors of military medical care.

Entry into Force and Repeal

The ordinance comes into force on November 1, 2026. At the end of October 2026, the ordinance of the Federal Minister of Defence on the medical transport and institutional care of eligible persons, BGBl. II No. 44/2021, shall simultaneously cease to be in force. The old regulation remains decisive for the period prior; no retroactive application of the new rates can be inferred from the ordinance.

The new legal situation creates a uniform, updated calculation basis for transport and nursing costs for the Austrian Armed Forces (Bundesheer) and the affected eligible persons starting in November 2026. For cost accounting, this means clear, published flat rates instead of the previous values from 2021—a circumstance that will have an immediate effect, particularly in the billing of helicopter transports and longer inpatient stays.

Source: Federal Law Gazette for the Republic of Austria, Part II, No. 306 of October 19, 2026, Ordinance: Patient Transport and Institutional Care of Eligible Persons (official reference: BGBl. II No. 306/2026).