Medical treatment in Belgium
Are you coming to Belgium for a planned treatment or medical care? Then you will have to take steps in your own country or in Belgium in order to be entitled to a reimbursement
If you have health insurance that is covered by another Member State of the European Economic Area or Switzerland, you are entitled under certain conditions to travel to Belgium for planned medical care (e.g. to consult a specialist, buy medicines, undergo a surgical procedure in a hospital, etc.).
Therefore, please contact the health insurance fund of your country of residence in advance for more information on what to do before and after your planned medical care. The health insurance fund can also provide you with information on what is and is not permissible, as well as any special conditions regarding how to claim reimbursement.
If you have prior approval (more specifically document S2), you should in principle register with a (Belgian) health insurance fund prior to treatment. Once your treatment starts, you must present your S2 document to your care provider. If you consult a contracted care provider (doctor, dentist, etc.), it is guaranteed that you will only need to pay the official rate. You can use the tool Find a care provider on the website of the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (in French) to check whether or not an individual care provider is contracted.
If you travel to Belgium for planned medical care that does not require hospitalisation (= no overnight stay) and you have not registered in advance with a health insurance fund, you will pay the costs of treatment directly to the care provider. Afterwards, you can claim reimbursement from a health insurance fund of your choice by submitting the treatment certificate as well as your S2 document.
If you travel to Belgium for planned medical care that requires hospitalisation (= one night) and you have not registered in advance with a health insurance fund, the hospital will contact a health insurance fund of your choice with a view to applying the third-party payer scheme. Under this scheme, you will only have to pay your share of the costs (e.g. patient contributions and any supplements).
If you travel to Belgium for planned medical treatment without prior approval, you will pay the costs of your treatment directly to the care provider. Afterwards, you can claim reimbursement from the health insurance fund of the Member State where you are insured.
Contact a health insurance fund (in French) or the Directorate for International Relations of the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (e-mail: rir@riziv-inami.fgov.be).
More information on planned medical care in a Member State other than your country of residence can be found on the page Planned Medical Treatment abroas of the European Commission website.
