NORWEGIAN HEALTHCARE

All Norwegians are insured by the National Insurance Scheme. This is a universal, tax-funded, single-payer health system, which is often compared to the French system for its breadth of scope and its results in lengthening Norwegian's life expectancy.

Norwegian are usually very satisfied with their healthcare system. In a recent WHO survey, about 60 per cent of Norwegians said they were satisfied with the way their health care system is run, while only 14 per cent expressed dissatisfaction. We will examine here how the Norwegian system works, its principles, and the options a Norwegian citizen has when abroad.

THE NORWEGIAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

Principles
Every Norwegian resident is covered by the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme (Folketrydgen). This is the public health service, which is financed by the Norwegian government and funded by social taxes. Norwegian residents are automatically covered, even if they never had taxable income.

While the general administration of the system is very centralised, the health care services are decentralised, and administered by each county (kommune). Every resident has to choose a general practitioners (Gps) from the kommune list, and residents have to see their GP first, before being referred to a specialist, if necessary.

Reimbursement
The Norwegian is mostly cashless. When fees do exist, they are set by the government and, unlike in France, the physician can not charge higher rates than the centrally-set ones unless they are fully private. A ceiling of approximately Euro 200 per person per year (or per parent and children) is set as a limit to what individual patients are expected to pay for their medication and medical services. Costs exceeding this level are covered by the National Insurance Scheme.

  1. In-hospital treatment – in-hospital treatments are free to all who qualify, but citizens may have to pay for radiology and laboratory tests and for non-emergency transportation. There are a number of exemptions to this rule - e.g. for people who suffer from chronic disease, pregnant woman and those who have just given birth.
  2. Out-of-hospital treatment – Doctors visits are capped at a fairly low rate by the government, while non-state-funded doctors can set their own price.
  3. Medicine – Non-prescription drugs are priced higher than prescription drugs. The cost of the latter falls into one of two groups referred to as the white class and the blue class. White class medicines are free, whilst blue class are subsidised.
  4. Dentistry – Dental treatment is not covered, except for children under 16, the elderly and the disabled, for whom free public dental care is provided.

Funding
The National Insurance Scheme is financed through taxes and is supposed to break even at year-end. The main tax used to pay for healthcare costs is levied on Norwegian's income at the rate of 8-11% approximately. It does not cover only health care, but also sick leave, public pension, unemployment benefits, and a few others. According to a recent EU Report, total health care expenditure in 2003 was 10.3% of GDP, paid at 84% by government, 15% by private out-of-pocket and ~1% by other private sources

Private Insurance
Norwegians can opt out of the government system and pay out-of-pocket. Very few decide to opt for a private insurer though, as the Norwegian system covers them so well. They prefer to pay out-of-pocket and travel to a foreign country for medical care in such instances.

Abroad
Norwegian citizens living and working abroad (i.e. those who are not paying the "public benefits fee" tax in Norway) are covered for up to one year after they move abroad. After that one year, they are not covered any more.

YOUR INSURANCE OPTIONS

Should you leave Norway for more than one year, we recommend that you plan your health care insurance as early as possible. We can suggest some useful providers who offer international health insurance solutions, who would cover you while you are staying abroad, and for all your travel back home or to other countries.

If you wish to explore your options further, have questions, or need some guidance, give us a buzz.