Medical assistance in the EU/EEA
You are entitled to a refund of a proportion of your expenses on medical assistance in another EU/EEA country. Go through all the steps in this guide to understand your rights and what you need to do. The claim form is included in Step 6.
Illustration: Morten Rakke / Helfo
Your rights
You can benefit from medical assistance abroad and be reimbursed a proportion of your expenses equivalent to what you would have received in Norway.
This applies regardless of whether you wish to visit a public health service doctor or one in private practice.
Note: If you consult a specialist, you will be required to have a referral and proof of the specialist's licence to practise.
In order to be eligible for this scheme you must be a member of the National Insurance Scheme. In many cases, the scheme also applies to family members. You are not entitled to a subsidy from Norway for treatment in an EU/EEA country you are regarded as ordinarily resident in. Click here for important information on who qualifies for this scheme.
If you are staying temporarily in another EU/EEA country and a situation arises for which you require medical assistance, you can use the European Health Insurance Card.
Are you planning to receive health care in the UK? Click here for information about the consequences of Brexit (in Norwegian).
Example
Per is staying over winter in Spain for four months. Per has diabetes and therefore visits a doctor regularly, including when he is in Spain. He uses a Scandinavian surgery with GPs in private practice.
You must locate a treatment provider yourself
The practitioner must have a permit to practice in the country in question, and valid public authorisation.
Having valid authorisation means that the public authorities in the country providing treatment have approved that the practitioner meets the formal requirements for the professional title.
Example
Per has ensured that the doctor he is going to visit has valid public authorisation. He knows that he must have documentation that each treatment provider he has visited is entitled to practise in Spain.
What can you be covered for?
You can only be covered for expenses for treatment that you would also have been covered for in Norway. Experimental treatment is not covered.
You will be refunded for what the treatment would have cost in Norway's public health service.
Example
Per wants to have an ordinary check-up by a GP. This is a consultation that he could also have had in Norway, and which will therefore be covered.
Don't forget the documentation!
You yourself must remember to obtain the correct documentation.
Once the treatment is complete, you must obtain
- documentation that each doctor has valid authorisation
- necessary documentation of your state of health, examinations and any treatment
- documentation of the types of treatments carried out
- original receipts for all expenses
- documentation that the expenses have been paid
In order for Helfo to consider the claim and reach a decision, the documentation must be comprehensible. This means that all documentation must initially be in Norwegian, Danish, Swedish or English. You should therefore try to get the documentation issued in one of these languages. If the documents are in another language, Helfo can, if necessary, ask you to have them translated. You must pay for the translation yourself. If you send in a translated document, you must also send in the original.
Example
Per makes sure he has a copy of the doctor's authorisation.
Limited reimbursement of travel expenses
You will not be reimbursed for more than you would have received if the treatment had been performed in Norway.
You may be granted reimbursement of your travel expenses corresponding to what you would have received in Norway.
In Norway, the main rule is that your travel expenses are reimbursed at a standard rate per kilometre regardless of which means of transport you use. You must travel to the geographically closest location at which the healthcare can be provided. In order to be reimbursable, your journey from home must be longer than ten kilometres each way and cost more than the local minimum fare by scheduled public transport.
Claims for travel expenses reimbursements must be sent to Helfo on this claim form:
(The form is in Norwegian, but click here for an English guide with instructions for filling out the form “Reiseregningsskjema".)
Send the claim form with the other documentation. If your application for coverage of expenses from Helfo is granted, Helfo will forward your travel expenses claim to the Norwegian regional health authorities' patient-travel service (Pasientreiser).
Example
Per lives in Øyfjell. His nearest GP is in Rauland. Although Per is going abroad, he will only be entitled to expenses for the journey Øyfjell-Rauland-Øyfjell at a standard rate per kilometre. He takes care to keep all his travel documents.
Submit your application
When you have received the treatment, you can apply to Helfo for a refund. Applications must be submitted within six months.
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.
For details regarding documentation requirements, see under "Don't forget the documentation".
Paper form
If you are unable to use our digital form, you can complete the following form instead:
Send the application form together with documentation to: Helfo, Postboks 2415, 3104 Tønsberg.
PS: If you are completing the form on behalf of a child under 16, it is the child's details that you need to enter. But the form must be signed by the parent/guardian.
Example
Per fills out the application form and sends this together with all the relevant documentation to Helfo within six months. Per is entitled to a reimbursement in accordance with the applicable rates.
Guidance Helsenorge
If you have any questions, please call Guidance Helsenorge: +47 23 32 70 00
Exemption card
Most types of healthcare entitle the recipient to an exemption card when their total out-of-pocket payments reach a certain amount.
This also applies if the healthcare is received in an EU/EEA country. Once you have been issued with an exemption card by Helfo, you will no longer have to pay user fees for the majority of health services. Find out more about maximum user fees and which health services are comprised by the exemption card system here.