German Health Insurer Must Pay Helicopter Rescue Costs Abroad

The Landessozialgericht Hessen ruled that a German statutory health insurance cannot reimburse the €6,200 cost of a helicopter evacuation for a German tourist injured in Austria. Plaintiff Rika Riesicke broke a lumbar vertebra while hiking, was first attended by a ground ambulance and later by a rescue helicopter. The court held that EU law provides reimbursement only when the host country's legislation obliges such services, which Austrian law does not for tourist or sport accidents, and that a ground ambulance would have been medically sufficient. Consequently, the expense must be covered by the patient herself.

The decision highlights the limits of cross‑border health‑care reimbursement within the EU, indicating that travelers cannot automatically expect their home‑country insurers to cover emergency air‑medical services abroad unless the destination country's regulations require it.