Tourists in the EU/EEA and Switzerland
If you are travelling as a tourist in the EU/EEA or Switzerland, you may be entitled to reimbursement of your expenses for essential healthcare in the country in which you are staying.
Illustration: Morten Rakke / Helfo
Your rights
If you are travelling as a tourist in the EU/EEA or Switzerland, you may be entitled to reimbursement of your expenses for essential healthcare in the country in which you are staying.
The easiest way to do this is to use the European Health Insurance Card. You will then not have to pay for the treatment, and you will only have to pay a user fee in the same way as residents of the country in which you are staying.
On the page about the European Health Insurance Card, you will find information about who is entitled to the card, how to apply for it, what the card entitles you to, when the card cannot be used, and what to do if you are unable to use it.
Helfo recommends that you take out private travel insurance in addition to your European Health Insurance Card.
If you are a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme, but are not entitled to a European Health Insurance Card because you are a citizen of a country outside the EU/EEA, you may still be entitled to receive public health services when you are travelling in another Nordic country, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Hungary or Austria. You will be entitled to subsidised healthcare subject to the same conditions as the country's inhabitants, and you will have to pay the same user fees. This is because Norway has separate agreements with these countries. You may need to show documentation. In the Nordic countries, for example, you will need to state your residential address in a Nordic country and show ID.
Have you paid for healthcare?
If you are a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme and have incurred expenses in excess of any user fees for healthcare in a country other than Norway, you can apply to Helfo for reimbursement. Find out more about this in step 2.
Other temporary stays
Find out more about your rights here:
- Tourists outside the EU/EEA
- Students in the EU/EEA and Switzerland
- Pensioners in the EU/EEA and Switzerland
If you plan to have a home office in another EEA country or Switzerland (nav.no) (in Norwegian), you should check whether this would affect your membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme. Without membership, you will not be entitled to use your Norwegian European Health Insurance Card.
Example
Mari and Tanja are on a road trip in Europe. Both are members of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme. Their first stop is Sweden, where Tanja breaks her leg while skiing. She therefore has to go to hospital. Tanja, who is a Russian citizen, shows her ID and gives her residential address in Norway. She only has to pay a user fee in the same way as Swedish citizens. Mari continues on to Germany alone. There, she gets food poisoning and has to see a doctor. Because the doctor is practising privately, she is unable to use her European Health Insurance Card. She therefore has to pay the full cost of the treatment.
If you do not have or are unable to use a European Health Insurance Card
If you do not have a European Health Insurance Card or you find that the treatment centre does not recognise or accept the card, you will have to pay for the medical investigation/treatment. You should then make sure that you obtain an invoice, a receipt and documentation of the treatment that is carried out.
This also applies if you have forgotten to use your European Health Insurance Card. When you return home, you can apply for reimbursement from Helfo.
Submit your claim to Helfo digitally
Deadline
You must send the application form and documentation to Helfo within 6 months of each treatment date. If you have not settled on the spot but received an invoice afterwards, we calculate the deadline from the invoice date instead of the treatment date. In this context, invoice means the first payment request issued by your treatment provider.
Paper form
If you are unable to use our digital form, you can complete the following form instead:
Send the form to: Helfo, Postboks 2415, 3104 Tønsberg.
Example
Mari makes sure she obtains an itemised invoice and a receipt from her visit to the doctor. Back in Norway, she applies online for reimbursement from Helfo. She makes sure she does this within six months after the treatment date.
Guidance Helsenorge
If you have any questions, please call Guidance Helsenorge: +47 23 32 70 00
Power of attorney in connection with enquiries to Helfo
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.
Complete the power of attorney form and send it to Helfo as an attachment to a digital form, or send it by post to Helfo, PO Box 2415, 3104 Tønsberg. Remember to enclose a copy of valid identification for the person granting power of attorney.