Tourists in the EU/EEA and Switzerland
If you travel as a tourist in the EU/EEA or Switzerland, you may be entitled to reimbursement of your expenses for essential healthcare in the country where you are staying.
Illustration: Morten Rakke / Helfo
Your rights
When you temporarily stay in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland, you may be entitled to have necessary healthcare expenses covered during your stay.
You should bring your European Health Insurance Card from Norway. The card entitles you to necessary healthcare in the country where you stay on the same terms as the residents there. If they must pay user fees, you must pay the same user fees as them. You cannot get a refund from Helfo for these user fees.
On the page about the European Health Insurance Card, you will find information about
- who is entitled to the card
- how you can apply for the card
- what the card entitles you to
- what to do if you are unable to use the card
- what applies to you if you are not entitled to get the card
Helfo recommends that you take out private travel insurance in addition to your European Health Insurance Card.
Have you paid for healthcare?
Suppose you are a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme and have incurred expenses more than any user fees for healthcare in a country other than Norway. In that case, 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, you should check whether this would affect your membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme. You will not be entitled to use your Norwegian European Health Insurance Card without membership. Read more on nav.no about membership in the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme.
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, 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 to Germany alone. There, she gets food poisoning and must see a doctor. Because the doctor is practising privately, Mari 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 find that the treatment centre does not recognise or accept the card, you must pay for the medical investigation/treatment. You should then obtain an invoice, a receipt, and documentation of the treatment that has been 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, an invoice is the first payment request issued by your treatment provider.
Paper form
If you are unable to use our digital form, you can instead complete the following form and send it to Helfo, Postboks 2415, 3104 Tønsberg:
Example
Mari ensures 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 does this within six months after the treatment date.
Power of attorney for contact with Helfo
If you contact Helfo on behalf of others, you must have a power of attorney.
Read about how you can arrange a power of attorney for contact with Helfo.
Guidance Helsenorge
If you have any questions, please call Guidance Helsenorge: +47 23 32 70 00