User fees at the family doctor

Check user fees and find your exemption card

Doctors and other treatment and service providers are required to report all approved user fees to Helfo at least every 14 days. Your user fees are automatically registered under your name. Read more about what happens when you have an exemption card or have paid more than the user fee limit.

Your GP (fastlege) must have an agreement with Helfo

In order for you to be entitled to benefits from the National Insurance scheme, your GP must have an agreement with Helfo regarding direct settlement. You need to clarify this before the examination or treatment starts. Read more further down the page about the conditions.

Normal GP user fees

Only approved user fees count towards an exemption card for health services. 
Your doctor will have a price list covering the main user fees and other expenses.

Here is a summary of the main user fees that count towards an exemption card: 

Children and other groups that do not pay user fees

Most patients must pay a user fee when they see their GP.

However, some groups do not have to pay user fees for assessments and treatment by their GP. This applies for example to

• children under the age of 16
• children and young people under the age of 18 receiving psychotherapeutic treatment
• patients with an approved occupational injury
• soldiers serving compulsory military service
• pregnant women attending antenatal checkups
• initial medical examinations for individuals seeking emergency care after being subjected to violence in close relationships and/or sexual abuse
• persons with a communicable disease which may endanger public health and persons who suspect they may have such a disease. This applies for example to coronavirus (coronavirus, 2019-nCoV/SARS-CoV-2), chlamydia and gonorrhea. (Only in Norwegian)

If you are attending an appointment for a check-up or treatment by a doctor regarding late effects resulting from COVID-19/coronavirus, you will have to pay the user fee yourself. This will count towards your exemption card for health services. 

Patient payments to doctors which do not count towards the exemption card scheme

You must cover expenses that are not approved user fees yourself. These expenses do not count towards an exemption card.

These expenses could for example be

• expenses for dressings and equipment necessary for your treatment
• issuing of medical certificates
• printing and sending of your medical records by your GP 
• expenses for the seasonal influenza vaccine

Your GP may only charge the user fees referred to in the Regulations concerning subsidies to cover expenses for examination and treatment by a doctor.

Requirement for agreements with Helfo

In order for you to be entitled to benefits from the National Insurance scheme, your GP must have an agreement with Helfo regarding direct settlement.

Your GP is obliged to inform you before the treatment starts if they do not have a direct settlement with Helfo, so you will know whether or not you have to pay the entire bill yourself. This obligation follows from Section 6 of the Health Personnel Act.

Payments for medical specialists

Your GP may sometimes refer you to a medical specialist, such as a doctor at a hospital.

The same rules normally apply to user fees and contributions for medical specialists as for GPs. If you are referred to a specialist at a private practice, it is a condition that the specialist has a funding contract with a regional health trust authority.

Below are links to the websites of each health region, with an overview of medical specialists who have an agreement with Helfo:

• South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority (Helse Sør-Øst)
• Western Norway Regional Health Authority (Helse Vest)
• Central Norway Regional Health Authority (Helse Midt-Norge)
• Northern Norway Regional Health Authority (Helse Nord)