​You may choose where you wish to be treated, but travel to treatment centres within your primary health service (e.g. your general practitioner) will ordinarily only be reimbursed up to the value of travel to the nearest location where the health service can be provided. Generally, the principle is applied that the nearest location of your general practitioner should be within your municipality of residence.

For travel to specialist treatment (e.g. hospital), the nearest location is considered to be within your health region.

For travel of this kind, you will pay the ordinary patient’s charge for the journey, unless you have an exemption card or are exempt.

If you have received treatment outside of your health region and have exercised your right to free choice of treatment, you may be reimbursed your travel expenses but with a higher patient’s charge.

If the journey is in excess of 300 kilometres each way, you will be reimbursed the equivalent of the expense of the cheapest available mode of public transport for the journey in question.

You must have travelled further than ten kilometres to be entitled to reimbursement of travel expenses.  Additionally, the travel expenses must be greater than the local minimum fare on public transport. 

Please note that you may still apply for reimbursement of travel expenses that do not fulfil these requirements if you are able to provide documentation from your treatment centre stating that it was necessary for you to use your car or a taxi on health-related grounds.

Air travel

If you need to travel by air as part of your journey, your local patient travel office should book this on your behalf. The patient travel office can be contacted by phone on 05515.

If you choose to pay for travel yourself, you will be reimbursed at the standard rate per kilometre for journeys of less than 300 kilometres. On journeys in excess of 300 kilometres you will be reimbursed the equivalent of the expense of the cheapest available public transport option for the journey in question.

​If it is not possible for you to use public transport to and from your treatment centre, your medical practitioner or local patient travel office may requisition adapted transport on your behalf.

Travelling by requisitioned transport means that the patient travel office organises your travel on your behalf, and chooses the mode of transport that is most appropriate. You will only pay a patient’s charge for the journey.

There must either be health-related or traffic-related grounds for why you cannot use public transport for all or parts of your journey. If there are health-related grounds for why you cannot use public transport, you must contact your medical practitioner. If there are traffic-related grounds for why you cannot use public transport, such as a lack of scheduled public transport for the journey in question, you must contact the local patient travel office by phone on 05515.

​As a patient, you do not have to provide confirmation of attendance from your treatment centre for travel undertaken after 1 October 2016. This information will instead be obtained from available records. Please note that if you, as a guardian, apply for reimbursement of travel expenses for a child aged 12 to 18 years old, confirmation of attendance must be provided. This is due to the child’s right to privacy.

If you have been a travel companion to a patient and are applying for reimbursement of your travel expenses, you must also provide confirmation of attendance that shows that the patient has attended their treatment and that they required a companion.

​You may be reimbursed for taxis or additional expenses related to the use of a car (e.g. car ferry, parking, tolls or winter tyres) if you have documentation that this is necessary and provide receipts along with your application.

Your medical practitioner must confirm that you need to use a private car or taxi on health-related grounds. If there are traffic-related grounds for why you need to use a private car or taxi as part of your journey, the patient travel office must confirm this.

If you are unable to document that a private car is necessary, you will generally be reimbursed at a standard rate per kilometre.

Ferry

You will also be reimbursed a standard rate per kilometre if you have travelled by car ferry for parts of your journey. However, if you do not take your car on the ferry, you will be reimbursed for a passenger ticket instead of the standard rate per kilometre for the ferry portion of the journey. A receipt for the ticket must be provided with the application.

​Companions are entitled to reimbursement of travel expenses if the medical practitioner documents that a travel companion is required on health-related grounds. If the patient and travel companion have travelled by car, only one standard rate per kilometre will be reimbursed.

If the patient and travel companion have used public transport, the travel companion and patient may both be reimbursed at the standard rate.  A receipt or ticket must be provided with the application.

When children under the age of 18 are accompanied by a companion, the requirement for a companion does not need to be documented. Ordinarily, the travel expenses of one companion will be reimbursed, but if the child is hospitalised then both parents may have their travel expenses reimbursed regardless of whether they accompany the child as a companion. Both parents may also be reimbursed for their travel expenses if they accompany a seriously ill child to and from treatment.

​If you have any questions or require further information in relation to patient travel, please contact your local patient travel office by phone on 05515.