Hospital care for NON-residents in Denmark

Hospital care for NON-residents in Denmark

• Target audience

  If you need hospital care while you temporarily reside in Denmark, you will be charged for acute and longterm hospital care unless you are covered by the EU regulations or one of the other exceptions.

  This means that you will be charged for the services you receive in connection with being examined and treated at a hospital.

  As a rule, you will not be charged if: 

  • You have a valid special Health Insurance Card (the expiry date may not be exceeded) 
  • You have a valid European Health Insurance Card, EHIC (the expiry date may not be exceeded)
  • You can produce a valid replacement form for the blue European Health Insurance Card
  • You can document that you reside in one of the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland or Iceland) by producing your ID
  • You can document that you reside in the Faeroe Islands or Greenland by producing your ID
  • You can document that you are under 18 years of age at the date of treatment by producing your ID
  • You receive support from the Danish Immigration Service (asylum seekers, foreigners without legal residence, applicants for residence permit on humanitarian grounds)
  • Diplomats with residence permit from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (special Health Insurance Card)

  If you are not in possession of the necessary documentation for the right to free acute and long-term hospital care, you will be charged. The extent to which you can seek to have the charges reimbursed in your home country is of no concern to the Danish hospital authorities.

• Special provisions for Greenland and the Faeroe Islands

  Acute hospital care is free of charge for individuals from Greenland and the Faeroe Islands, but they may be charged for necessary and planned care.

• Expenses for hospital care

  In Denmark, billing rules and prices are set by law, and they must be used for hospital treatment for patients who do not reside in the country. The stated price on the invoice is linked to your primary diagnosis and is an expression of the Danish public hospitals' average cost price for the treatment. The price – also called DRG rate – is publicly available, updated annually and is not broken down into individual cost elements.

  You will be charged as soon as your treatment has been completed. The expenses for your acute and long-term hospital care comprise all services associated with your hospital treatment, including expenses for ambulance and helicopter transportation in case of a transfer to another treatment facility, interpreter assistance and treatment tools provided in connection with the treatment.

• Informed consent and terms of treatment

  You will be informed of your health condition and treatment options before your treatment is initiated. You will further be oriented that you will possibly have to pay for your treatment yourself so that you can include this in your overall considerations before you give your consent to the treatment.

• Statutory provisions

  Non-residents and temporary residents in Denmark who need acute and long-term hospital care will be charged for it with effect from 1 July 2019.

  You will be charged directly. If you are eligible for free acute and long-term hospital care, you must be able to document your right.

• Residence in Denmark

  Residence in Denmark means that you are registered with the national civil registry and have a Danish CPR number.

• Acute hospital care

  The assessment of what constitutes an acute medical need will always depend on a medical evaluation. Acute hospital care includes:

  • treatment at the emergency room
  • hospitalisation at an emergency department or other acute hospitalisation
  • pre- and post-term birth.

• Long-term hospital care

  Long-term hospital care is the treatment that extends beyond the acute phase and where it is not considered reasonable to refer you to treatment in your home country or you will not tolerate being moved to a hospital in your home country.

• Invoice

  Your invoice will contain information about the treating hospital, department, visit date and price (DRG rate) as well as expenses for interpreter assistance and any treatment tools. The details are provided so that you can seek reimbursement for all or parts of your expenses in your home country.

• Appeal guidance

  You have the possibility to bring the region’s decision regarding the terms of your acute and long-term hospital care in Denmark to the Danish Agency for Patient Complaints within not more than 4 weeks of being charged for your hospital care. 

  Appeals must be filed electronically.

  Find complaint instructions (the Danish Agency for Patient Complaints)