Psychotherapy Insurance Austria 2026: Costs & Coverage

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The short answer first

Anyone who needs psychotherapy in Austria will almost always pay out of pocket. The statutory health insurance fund (ÖGK) provides a cost subsidy (Kostenzuschuss) of 33.70 EUR per 60-minute individual session. A private psychotherapist (Wahlpsychotherapeut) usually charges 70 to 150 EUR. The rest is on you. A private supplementary insurance (Zusatzversicherung) can close the gap, partly or entirely. This guide shows which tariffs cover which costs, where contract waiting periods hide, and what can be claimed back at tax time.

One clarification up front: there is no nationwide contract agreement (Gesamtvertrag Psychotherapie) between the ÖGK and the professional association. Negotiations have been going on for decades. What changed on 1 January 2024 concerns clinical-psychological treatment (klinisch-psychologische Behandlung, a separate profession) with its own cost subsidy; from 2026, it becomes a full insurance benefit. This distinction becomes clearer further down.

For a wider view of Austrian health insurance, start with the Private Health Insurance Austria 2026 guide.

Key facts at a glance

• ÖGK subsidy for individual psychotherapy: 33.70 EUR per 60 minutes (2025/2026, unchanged)
• Group therapy: 8.50 to 20.50 EUR per session (45 to 135 minutes depending on format)
• Typical private therapist fee: 70 to 150 EUR per individual session
• Waiting time for a subsidised place: several months up to around one year, strongly varying by province
• Approval (Bewilligung) required from the 11th therapy session onwards, requested in advance
• Psychotherapy is deductible as an extraordinary expense (außergewöhnliche Belastung, § 34 EStG), after subtracting deductible and subsidy
• Private supplementary insurance: typical reimbursement 80 to 100 percent, watch the annual sub-limit; special waiting period up to 8 months under the Austrian Insurance Contract Act (VersVG)

What the ÖGK actually pays

The Austrian statutory health insurance (ÖGK) offers two routes to psychotherapy. Many people call the first one a Kassenplatz (a subsidised slot), and the second one Wahltherapeut mit Zuschuss (private therapist with subsidy). In practice, most insured people only ever see the second.

Route 1: Full cost coverage via quota slots

These slots run through regional associations such as the WGPV in Vienna or equivalent models in other provinces. Treatment is free for you because the ÖGK settles the full fee directly with these institutions. The catch: quotas are limited. Anyone looking for a place usually ends up on a waiting list. Depending on province and urgency, several months up to around a year is realistic. The ÖGK does not publish hard, nationwide statistics; the ranges quoted come from the professional association and from Konsument.at research.

Route 2: Private therapist with cost subsidy

This is the more common route. You pick a freelance psychotherapist, pay the fee yourself first, then submit the invoice and form to your health insurance. The ÖGK later transfers the subsidy to your account. Bank details, medical pre-assessment and the approval requirement from session 11 are documented on the ÖGK website.

The key number is the subsidy. It is laid down in Annex 7 of the ÖGK statutes:

Service	ÖGK subsidy	Unit
Individual therapy	33.70 EUR	60 minutes
Individual therapy (half unit)	19.30 EUR	30 minutes
Family session (Familiensitzung)	42.70 EUR	75 minutes
Group therapy (short)	8.50 EUR	45 minutes per person
Group therapy (standard)	12.10 EUR	90 minutes per person
Group therapy (long)	20.50 EUR	135 minutes per person

Source: ÖBVP (psychotherapie.at), PsyOnline, ÖGK statutes Annex 7, as of Q1 2026.

Other funds pay more

For people insured with BVAEB or SVS, the maths looks different. Both bodies agreed to significantly higher rates from 1 January 2026:

Insurance fund	Individual session	As of
ÖGK	33.70 EUR	2025/2026, unchanged
BVAEB	50.20 EUR	from 01.01.2026
SVS	50.00 EUR	from 01.01.2026
KFA Vienna	38.00 EUR	as of 2026

Source: ÖBVP tariff table (as of January 2026), BVAEB and SVS press releases.

So someone insured with the SVS has a much smaller out-of-pocket gap than an ÖGK member. That matters for the question of whether a supplementary insurance is worthwhile.

The real out-of-pocket cost, worked out

One year of weekly individual therapy with a private therapist in Vienna typically looks like this:

Item	Amount
Sessions per year (weekly, minus holidays)	around 45
Fee per session (mid-market assumption)	110 EUR
Total cost per year	4,950 EUR
ÖGK subsidy (45 × 33.70)	1,516.50 EUR
Your out-of-pocket without supplementary insurance	3,433.50 EUR

Example calculation based on the ÖBVP standard fee list and the ÖGK rate under Annex 7. Actual amounts depend on the individual therapist's fee.

That is why psychotherapy in Austria is often perceived as a "private service", not because the ÖGK pays nothing, but because the subsidy trails well behind the market price.

Waiting time for a subsidised place

Nationwide official statistics do not exist. What can be stated reliably are ranges that professional bodies and independent portals such as checkpsy.at derive from ongoing surveys. As of Q1 2026:

Province	Waiting time (range)
Vienna	6 to 18 months
Lower Austria	6 to 15 months
Upper Austria	4 to 12 months
Styria	4 to 12 months
Salzburg	3 to 9 months
Tyrol	3 to 9 months
Carinthia, Vorarlberg, Burgenland	3 to 9 months

Source: checkpsy.at (regional survey, Q1 2026). Values are ranges, not ÖGK mean values.

People looking for a subsidised place often fare best with two parallel strategies: applying to several associations and hospital outpatient units in their province, while also seeking appointments with private therapists. For wait times in other medical specialties, see Public Doctor Wait Times Austria.

Private supplementary insurance for psychotherapy

This is where supplementary insurance comes in. Broadly, there are three product shapes that can cover psychotherapy: a pure private-doctor insurance (Wahlarztversicherung or Privatarztversicherung), an outpatient supplementary insurance with a psychotherapy module included, and the classic special-class hospital insurance (Sonderklasse-Versicherung) extended with an outpatient module.

What a good tariff should deliver

The specifics that matter for psychotherapy:

• Reimbursement rate of medically indicated psychotherapy, typically 80 to 100 percent on the portion not covered by the public fund
• Annual sub-limit for psychotherapy, often as a dedicated pot inside the outpatient cover
• Recognised practitioners: many tariffs only pay for registered psychotherapists under the Austrian Psychotherapy Act 2024; some also include clinical-psychological treatment, others do not
• Special waiting period, up to eight months for psychotherapy under the Austrian Insurance Contract Act (VersVG), some tariffs (e.g. new Wiener Städtische policies) up to one calendar year
• Health questions on application, current or past therapy must usually be disclosed
• Exclusion of existing treatments, an ongoing therapy is often not reimbursed initially

Provider overview

The Austrian market has tariffs with a psychotherapy component at UNIQA, Wiener Städtische, Generali, Merkur, Helvetia and Donau. The specific sub-limits and reimbursement rates are, however, set tariff by tariff in the general insurance terms (AVB) and differ widely. A blanket statement like "provider X always pays 100 percent" would not be defensible because it depends on the tariff tier and the contract year. The cleanest path is an anonymous comparison based on your own profile.

Example: with and without supplementary insurance

Item	Without supplement	With supplement (80%)	With supplement (100%)
Fee per session	110 EUR	110 EUR	110 EUR
ÖGK subsidy	33.70 EUR	33.70 EUR	33.70 EUR
Gap to fund	76.30 EUR	76.30 EUR	76.30 EUR
Supplementary reimbursement	-	61.04 EUR	76.30 EUR
Your remaining out-of-pocket	76.30 EUR	15.26 EUR	0.00 EUR

Example calculation. An annual sub-limit inside the tariff can cap reimbursement; always check the AVB of the chosen tariff.

Contract waiting period: the underrated pitfall

Supplementary insurance is not a spontaneous safety net. For psychotherapy, dental prosthetics and orthodontics, the Austrian Insurance Contract Act allows a special waiting period of up to eight months. Some tariffs use the full eight months, and certain products (for example specific new Wiener Städtische policies) go as far as twelve months.

What that means in practice:

• A policy taken out today will typically only reimburse after eight to twelve months
• An already ongoing therapy often falls completely out of reimbursement
• After a long break in therapy, the waiting period may restart if the tariff rules that way

People unsure whether therapy will come up often take out cover "as a precaution". That is not always economically sensible, but it is documented in the AVB once and for all. For a broader look at switching and waiting deadlines, see Switching Health Insurance Austria 2026.

Psychotherapy, clinical psychology, psychiatry: who does what

These three terms get mixed up constantly in advisory conversations. The distinction matters for cost questions because the billing paths are different.

Feature	Psychotherapist	Clinical psychologist	Psychiatrist
Law	Psychotherapy Act 2024 (PthG)	Psychologists Act 2013	Medical Practitioners Act
Training	Dedicated psychotherapy degree or PthG specialist programme	Psychology degree plus clinical-psychology training	Medical degree plus specialist training
May prescribe medication	no	no	yes
Public fund billing	33.70 EUR subsidy, rarely contracted	Subsidy 33.70 EUR since 1.1.2024; full benefit from 2026	E-card contract or private doctor with reimbursement
Typical role	Longer-term therapy for psychological distress	Diagnostics plus shorter treatment	Diagnosis, medication, combination with therapy

Source: BÖP, ÖBVP, ÖGK. Roles are ideal-typical; overlaps are possible.

For supplementary insurance this means: check the AVB to see which profession is named as reimbursable. Good tariffs cover psychotherapy (PthG) and clinical-psychological treatment (Psychologists Act) in parallel. Some basic tariffs deliberately exclude clinical psychology.

Online therapy and video sessions

The ÖGK reimburses online sessions when the therapist is registered in Austria and the session remains clinically equivalent to in-person therapy. Since the pandemic, this has been standard. Most current private supplementary tariffs follow; some older ones still exclude video sessions. What matters is the AVB entry for the specific service. If you plan to rely on online therapy long-term, clarify that before signing, not after the first invoice.

Child and adolescent psychotherapy

The most common question around children: do minors get a higher subsidy? The answer is sober. The ÖGK subsidy for children and adolescents is the same 33.70 EUR per individual session as for adults. A separate "children's tariff" does not exist. What does exist is the family session at 42.70 EUR for 75 minutes, billed when caregivers are part of the session.

The real bottleneck is supply, not the subsidy. Subsidised places for child and adolescent psychotherapy are even scarcer in most provinces than for adults. Families wanting private cover will find child modules within family supplementary policies across the major providers. A related topic on cashless outpatient care in Vienna: Outpatient Insurance and Private Doctor Vienna.

Tax deductibility: § 34 EStG in practice

Psychotherapy in Austria can be declared as an extraordinary expense under § 34 EStG (Income Tax Act) in the annual tax assessment, provided it is medically indicated. The lever is the personal deductible (Selbstbehalt). It runs between 6 and 12 percent of income and is subtracted from the expense before any tax effect applies.

Annual income (EUR)	Deductible
up to 7,300	6 percent
up to 14,600	8 percent
up to 36,400	10 percent
over 36,400	12 percent

Source: BMF, § 34 EStG. For a sole earner, single parent or children in the household, the percentage can reduce by one point per item.

Quick worked example

Suppose a single employee with 45,000 EUR annual income pays 4,950 EUR for a year of psychotherapy. The ÖGK has reimbursed 1,516.50 EUR. A supplementary insurance has added 1,800 EUR. The tax-relevant figure is only the amount actually borne net: 4,950 minus 1,516.50 minus 1,800 equals 1,633.50 EUR. From this, the deductible of 12 percent of income is subtracted (5,400 EUR). In this example the costs do not exceed the deductible, so the tax effect is zero.

The maths flips when multiple health costs combine in one year or when a lower deductible percentage applies. Someone with several items in the same year (dental, spa, glasses, psychotherapy) often clears the threshold. For more scenarios, see Claiming Private Health Insurance in Austria.

Without any deductible, the expense can only be claimed if there is a recognised serious disability under § 35 EStG. That is the exception, not the rule.

Psychotherapy Act 2024: the new framework

On 17 April 2024 the National Council passed the new Psychotherapy Act. Briefly, to put tariff and media references in context: training is moved into universities; a six-year pathway (bachelor, master, state examination) starts at public universities in the winter semester 2026. The act regulates online therapy and quality assurance in detail for the first time. Existing trainees have transition rules up to 2038. For patients, the subsidy does not change in the short term, but the professional status is now clearly in statute.

What to do if it has to be fast

If you need support urgently, do not wait for a subsidised slot. Sensible paths:

• Crisis intervention centres and psychosocial counselling services, available in all provinces, often free of charge
• Outpatient units in public hospitals with psychotherapy offers
• Online platforms with registered psychotherapists, first appointments often available at short notice
• As an entry point: a GP referral to a psychiatrist for diagnosis and possible medication

These paths do not replace longer therapy but can bridge the gap until a therapy starts.

Frequently asked questions

How much does the ÖGK pay for psychotherapy per session?

For a 60-minute individual session with a private psychotherapist, the subsidy is 33.70 EUR (as of 2025 and 2026, unchanged). For a 30-minute half unit it is 19.30 EUR. You pay the invoice, then submit it with the fee note and ÖGK form.

Can I claim psychotherapy as a tax deduction?

Yes, as an extraordinary expense under § 34 EStG in the annual tax assessment. Conditions: medical indication and exceeding the income-based deductible of 6 to 12 percent. Only the net cost after ÖGK subsidy and any supplementary reimbursement counts.

How long is the waiting time for a subsidised slot?

There are no official nationwide statistics. Surveys by specialist portals show ranges from around three months in smaller provinces to over one year in Vienna and Lower Austria, depending on regional associations.

Which supplementary insurance covers psychotherapy?

Nearly all major Austrian providers have tariffs with an outpatient psychotherapy module, including UNIQA, Wiener Städtische, Generali, Merkur, Helvetia and Donau. Sub-limits, reimbursement rates and waiting periods differ significantly by tariff tier.

Is there a waiting period on private supplementary insurance?

Yes. The Austrian Insurance Contract Act allows a special waiting period of up to eight months for psychotherapy. Some tariffs go to twelve months. The period starts on contract date. Ongoing treatments are usually excluded.

Does the ÖGK reimburse online therapy?

Yes, provided the psychotherapist is registered in Austria and the session is clinically equivalent to an in-person session. Most current private tariffs follow; older tariffs should be double-checked.

Is there a cap on the number of subsidised sessions?

No absolute cap, but an approval requirement. Up to the 10th session no separate approval is needed. From the 11th therapy session onwards, an approval by the ÖGK medical service must be requested in time. When medically indicated, it is usually granted.

What is the difference between a psychotherapist and a clinical psychologist?

A psychotherapist works under the Psychotherapy Act 2024 and offers longer-term therapy for psychological distress. A clinical psychologist works under the Psychologists Act 2013 and has been a public fund benefit since 1 January 2024 (cost subsidy), moving to a full benefit in 2026. Neither may prescribe medication, only the psychiatrist can.

Bottom line

Psychotherapy in Austria remains largely a service you pay for yourself. The ÖGK subsidy of 33.70 EUR per session covers barely a third of the typical market fee. Anyone in regular therapy quickly accumulates several thousand euros in out-of-pocket costs per year.

Private supplementary insurance can shrink that gap considerably. It makes most sense for those who can plan ahead, because the special waiting period of up to eight months sits between signing and first reimbursement. In tax terms, § 34 EStG delivers an effect when net costs exceed the income-based deductible, which most often happens when several health expenses stack up in the same year.

The decision has three layers: current risk, planability of the therapy need, and a tariff that covers psychotherapy cleanly. The anonymous tariff check via durchblicker.at is a pragmatic starting point.

Further reading

• Private Health Insurance Austria 2026
• Outpatient Insurance and Private Doctor Vienna
• Private Health Insurance Monthly Costs 2026
• Public Doctor Wait Times Austria
• Is Special Class Insurance Worth It

Sources

• ÖGK Psychotherapy: gesundheitskasse.at/cdscontent/?contentid=10007.870222
• ÖGK Contract Partner Information: gesundheitskasse.at/cdscontent/?contentid=10007.879220
• ÖGK Introduction of clinical-psychological treatment: gesundheitskasse.at/cdscontent/?contentid=10007.908362
• ÖBVP Cost of Psychotherapy: psychotherapie.at/patientinnen/ueber-psychotherapie/kosten-einer-psychotherapie
• PsyOnline Cost Overview: psyonline.at/contents/7437/ueberblick-kosten-der-psychotherapie
• BÖP ASVG Information: boep.or.at/psychologische-behandlung/asvg-informationen
• BMF Extraordinary Expenses with Deductible: bmf.gv.at/themen/steuern/arbeitnehmerveranlagung/was-kann-ich-geltend-machen/aussergewoehnliche-belastungen
• Psychotherapy Act 2024 (RIS): ris.bka.gv.at
• National Council Decision 17.04.2024: parlament.gv.at

Disclaimer: The amounts and ranges mentioned in this guide have been cross-checked with the linked primary sources (as of Q1 2026). Individual benefits depend on the selected tariff and medical assessment. CheckEverything.at is an editorial guide and does not replace personal advice from your health insurance provider, insurer or tax adviser.