Medical visits

No user charges are payable in Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland.

The following charges are payable for primary care at health centres:

• A fixed annual user charge of no more than EUR 60.30 in a year, or
• A fixed user charge per visit of no more than EUR 30.20. The user charge is payable for the first three visits to the same health centre in the same calendar year only.

A user charge of EUR 41.40 is payable for visits to health centres on working days between 8 pm and 8 am and for visits on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. The charges do not apply to people under the age of 18 years.

Reimbursement of private physicians' fees is based on fixed charges. The National Social Insurance Institution reimburses a fixed amount of the physician’s fee, an amount which is considerably lower than the actual charge. In 2026, the reimbursement is EUR 8 for visit to a physician or for a remote appointment, and EUR 50-60 for a psychiatric consultation and EUR 70 for an appointment with a gynaecologist. 

Persons aged 65 or over have the right to appointments with a general practitioner in the private sector at the price of the client fee in public healthcare. Three such appointments per year are available in 2026 and 2027.

User charges apply to most medical visits in the public health care system. A fee of EUR 30 is charged for visits to a physician, including primary care consultations, specialist outpatient consultations and home visits. Visits to nurses, therapists and other health care professionals are subject to a user charge of EUR 20 while scheduled telephone consultations are charged at EUR 15. Acute visits to specialist services are generally charged at EUR 55.

Children and young people are exempt from fees for visits to primary health care clinics. Several preventive and public health services are provided free of charge, including maternity and child health services, school and student health care, preventive family planning services for people under 25 years of age, primary care mental health services and psychiatric outpatient specialist care.

If a scheduled outpatient appointment is delayed by 45 minutes or more the visit fee is reimbursed.

User charges for health services in Iceland are determined by the Ministry of Health and by the public health insurance institution Iceland Health. Iceland Health contributes to the cost of healthcare and ensures that individuals do not pay more than a certain maximum amount each month for it.

Rules regarding user fees and the contribution of Iceland Health can be found on https://island.is/en/o/iceland-health 

Inpatient hospital treatment is free of charge for all. 

The Norwegian somatic hospital sector is based on a financing model that combines block grants and fee-for-service financing. Fee-for-service financing is based on the principle that a service provider is paid on the basis of services rendered. The state reimburses a percentage of the average DRG expenses (Diagnosis Related Groups) in connection with treatment of patients.

Patients only pay a fixed part of the cost for public health services. User charges for consultation with general practitioners: NOK 160 (day) and NOK 280 (evening/night). User charges for consultations with a specialist are NOK 375 (2021). Patients that use private treatment providers, who do not have reimbursement agreements, have to cover all the costs themselves. 

In the public health service user fees from treatment by a doctor, physiotherapist, psychologist, outpatient clinic, laboratory and X-ray institute can provide user fee credit towards exemption cards. There may also be user fees for medicines on "blue prescription", some dental treatments, some rehabilitation stays and some treatment trips abroad. 

When the ceiling for user charges is reached, patients are eligible for an exemption card (frikort for helsetjenester) valid for the rest of the calendar year. The ceiling or the upper limit is set annually by the Norwegian Parliament. From January 2021, there is one single exemption card scheme in Norway, instead of two schemes, as before. This means that patients can use the same exemption card for all the health services that are currently covered by the two different exemption cards. The new user fee ceiling is NOK 2 460 (2021). The user fees are registered automatically.

Patients must pay any expense that are not approved user fees. These expenses do not count towards your exemption card for health services. This could be fees for bandages and equipment which is necessary for treatment.

Some groups are exempt from paying user fees for examination and treatment by a doctor. For example this applies to: children under the age 16, children and adolescents under the age of 18 who receive psychotherapeutic treatment, patients who have received a decision concerning an occupational injury, soldiers serving compulsory military service (førstegangstjeneste), pregnant women attending antenatal checkups, patients suffering from an infectious disease which constitutes a risk to public safety, such as the coronavirus (coronavirus, 2019-nCoV/SARS-CoV-2), chlamydia and gonorrhoea, and persons suspected of having such a disease and initial medical examination for individuals seeking emergency care after being subjected to violence in close relationships and/or sexual abuse.

The fee paid by the patient is the same, regardless if the patient sees a physician, nurse, or other health care personnel.

Ages 0 to 18 years

Visits to primary care, specialist outpatient care and local urgent care center - free of charge.

Ages 18 years to (and including) 84 years 

Visits to primary care, specialist outpatient care SEK 275. Same fee includes videovisits and out-patient hospital care; 

• Visits to local urgent care center SEK 375.

Ages 85 years and above

 • Visits to primary care, specialist outpatient care - free of charge 

 • Visits at local urgent care center free of charge; 

Screening for breast cancer and cervix cancer is free of charge in Sweden. Regional health authorities apply different variable rules and conditions regarding fees and to be eligible for interventions, such as in vitro fertilization treatment. 

Patient fees for vaccinations vary across the country.