Pilot project:

Maternity protection for female SHI-accredited doctors

More and more women are choosing to become doctors.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/africa-studio)

For the first time, female doctors with their own surgery are to receive maternity protection pay. A pilot project by the Vorarlberg Medical Association and the health insurance fund is now making this possible. 

The trend is clear: medicine is becoming increasingly female. Of 1858 active doctors in Vorarlberg, 840 are currently women - and the trend is rising. There are already more women than men in the fields of gynecology, dermatology, pediatrics and adolescent medicine, pulmonology, pathology and psychiatry, while in general medicine and some other fields the genders are evenly balanced. Men predominate in the retirement cohorts, but women are ahead in the future generation. Very soon they will make up more than half of all medical staff in Vorarlberg.

The health insurance fund and the Medical Association are now responding to this situation - and, as part of a pilot project, are making it possible for the first time for female panel doctors to receive financial maternity protection support after the birth of a child. Female panel doctors are self-employed entrepreneurs. If they are unable to work after the birth of their child, they do not receive any income. This financial hurdle is now to be removed.

Costs still remain
The decision to set up a practice is usually made between the ages of 30 and 40. Female doctors of this age, who have not yet completed their family planning, have often shied away from taking the step into self-employment. Manfred Brunner cites the high costs associated with several months of absence following the birth of a child shortly after opening a practice as one of the reasons: "Even if the doctor does not work during this time, she still has to cover high investment costs, as well as ongoing personnel, equipment, real estate and other costs, usually with often non-existent reserves," explains Vorarlberg's ÖGK boss Brunner. 

The pilot project, which is limited to Vorarlberg, will start in 2025 and will be evaluated after two years. "Of course, the maternity protection benefit that has now been approved does not cover the entire loss of earnings," explains Alexandra Rümmele-Waibel, Chairwoman of the Curia of Registered Doctors at the Vorarlberg Medical Association, "it is rather to be understood as a partial income replacement to cover ongoing fixed costs. The benefit can be applied for for a maximum of 12 weeks after the birth."

The amount of the benefit per month claimed is 12% of the applicant's previous year's quarterly income (calculated from the date of application), i.e. a maximum of 36%. If the applicant does not yet have a previous year's quarterly turnover, for example because she has only recently opened her practice, the average turnover of her specialist group will be used as a basis. While the doctor is receiving the benefit, she may not carry out any medical activity. Only contract doctors who have had a health insurance contract for more than six months on the day of delivery are entitled to maternity support benefits.