Click here for information about the specialist health service.
Treatment within the specialised health service abroad
If you are a patient who is entitled to essential healthcare within the specialised health service in Norway, you may be eligible to receive planned treatment abroad. This page provides an overview of the schemes that are available.
Illustration: Morten Rakke / Helfo
Treatment abroad which is not available in Norway
Are you seeking treatment abroad that is not provided in Norway, or the treatment that is provided in Norway is less effective than the treatment available abroad? Then you can contact the office for treatment abroad in the health region in which you live.
If you wish to receive treatment which is not offered in Norway, or the treatment available abroad has been proven to be more effective abroad, you will find more information and guidance on how to apply here (in Norwegian):
Right to treatment abroad
Read more about treatment abroad if the healthcare you need is not available in Norway or if healthcare abroad has been shown to be more effective than the corresponding healthcare that is available from the public healthcare service in Norway.
Illustration: Morten Rakke / Helfo
Equivalent treatment in another EU/EEA country
Do you wish to receive treatment in another EU/EEA country which is equivalent to treatment you could have received in Norway? You can apply to Helfo for prior notification and/or reimbursement.
You can now claim reimbursement for your expenses on healthcare within the specialised health service in other countries within the EU/EEA if the treatment is equivalent to the healthcare you would have received in Norway. You can then be reimbursed for expenses for medical investigations and/or treatment at a hospital or outpatient clinic.
Your entitlement to reimbursement applies both if you travel abroad for the purpose of receiving healthcare and if you are staying in another EU/EEA country when the need for healthcare arises. Note, however, that this scheme is not applicable to Switzerland.
Hospital treatment and other specialised health services in EU/EEA countries
Read more about conditions for reimbursement of expenses for specialised health services in another EU/EEA country.
Illustration: Morten Rakke / Helfo
Healthcare not provided within a medically justifiable period of time
Do you wish to receive treatment abroad because you have not received healthcare in Norway within a medically justifiable period of time? You can apply to Helfo for prior authorisation and/or reimbursement.
If you have a medical certificate confirming that your state of health is such that the waiting time in Norway is not medically justifiable, you can apply to Helfo for prior authorisation to have your treatment in another EU/EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom.
Treatment within the EU/EEA in the event of long waiting times in Norway
If you are not offered treatment within a medically justifiable period of time in Norway, you can apply to Helfo for prior authorisation to have your treatment in another EU/EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom.
Illustration: Morten Rakke / Helfo