If you are a pensioner and have moved to another country, you are no longer automatically a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme. If you take up residence outside the EU/EEA, you must apply for voluntary membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme in order to be entitled to coverage of expenses on healthcare.
Illustration: Morten Rakke / Helfo
If you are a pensioner and take up permanent residence outside the EU/EEA, you must apply for voluntary membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme in order to be entitled to coverage of expenses on healthcare.
You must have voluntary membership to be entitled to coverage of expenses on healthcare both abroad and in Norway. This applies regardless of whether you are a disability pensioner, old-age pensioner or AFP pensioner (entitled to a public-sector contractual pension).
When you move out of Norway, you lose the right to a GP even if you have voluntary membership in the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme.
Read more about voluntary membership on nav.no (in Norwegian).
Any family members supported by you and who are staying with you abroad are also eligible for voluntary membership subject to application.
If you are a pensioner living in Norway and are on holiday/temporarily resident abroad, you have the same rights as other tourists. Read about being a tourist outside the EU /EEA.
Kenneth is a pensioner and is a resident in Thailand. He has applied for and been granted voluntary membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme and has been granted this.
As a voluntary member you are entitled to medical care in the country you have moved to and to have a percentage of your expenses covered subject to the rules on ordinary subsidisation.
You will have to pay the expenses out of pocket and apply to Helfo for reimbursement. Your expenses will then be reimbursed to you at fixed rates. This typically means that the reimbursement you receive is less than what you paid for the medical care.
Read more about what you can be covered for when you are entitled to ordinary subsidisation.
As a pensioner with voluntary membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme you retain your right to receive health services during temporary residence in Norway. This means that you also have the option of travelling to Norway to receive treatment, but you will have to pay your own travel expenses.
Family members who have been granted voluntary membership will gain the same rights as you.
After living in Thailand for some time, Kenneth is diagnosed with lung cancer. He investigates the cost of treatment in Thailand and discovers that a reimbursement from Helfo will only cover a small fraction of the cost. Kenneth considers travelling to Norway to receive treatment there. He is entitled to this because he has taken care to retain his membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme.
You may be entitled to reimbursement regarding your Covid-19 test expenses performed by healthcare professionals. Coronavirus self-tests are however not covered.
The same criteria applies to reimbursement of vaccines as for other healthcare treatments. This means that you will only be entitled to reimbursement if you had been eligible for the vaccine in Norway. Read more about vaccination and priority groups here (fhi.no).
When you submit an application for reimbursement, you must take care to enclose the required documentation.
You must obtain documentation of all the medical investigations/treatment you have undergone. You must retain the original receipts and the packaging of any medication.
All documentation must be in Norwegian, Danish, Swedish or English. You should therefore try to get the documentation issued in one of these languages. If the original documents are in another language, Helfo may, if necessary, ask you to have them translated. You must pay for the translation yourself. If you enclose a translation, you must also enclose the original.
As a voluntary member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme, you can apply for a refund of some of your healthcare expenses using a digital form.
The application, together with the required documentation, must be sent to Helfo within six months from each treatment date.
If you are unable to use our digital form, you can complete the following form instead:
Send the application to: Helfo, Postboks 2415, 3104 Tønsberg.
Kenneth has decided to remain in Thailand even if it means he has to cover a large percentage of the costs of treatment himself. However, a fraction will be covered by Helfo. He sends the application form to Helfo, enclosing the original receipts and documentation as proof that he has received the treatment. He takes care to do this within six months from each treatment date.
If you contact Helfo on behalf of anyone else, you must have power of attorney for them.
Parents/guardians must also have power of attorney from any children aged 18 or over. In the case of health information, you must have power of attorney from any children aged 16 or over. This is because the age of majority under health law is 16.
Health information is sensitive information and should not be sent by e-mail. You should therefore send the power of attorney to Helfo as an attachment to a digital form, or by letter post to Helfo, Postboks 2415, 3104 Tønsberg. Remember to enclose a copy of valid identification.