Abroad
Scheduled health care abroad
Do you prefer going for treatment abroad? Below we will elaborate on the conditions for reimbursement and explain what you need to do before your treatment starts.
Whether your treatment is covered depends, among other things, on the health-care plan(s) you choose and if the care you need is covered by the basic health-care plan or any supplementary plan. To know for sure whether your treatment abroad is covered, you are required to ask our prior authorisation. Doing so will prevent unpleasant surprises. Read all about it on this page.
Scheduled care abroad
Find out what scheduled health-care abroad is covered and how much we will reimburse.
Permission
Are you going to a foreign hospital or private clinic to be admitted? You will need prior authorisation from ONVZ.
Submitting foreign invoices
Make sure the invoice contains the right information and save all original invoice(s) and referrals. You will need these documents to submit your claim.
Good to know
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If you are going to a foreign hospital or private clinic for an admission of one day or more, you need prior permission from ONVZ. If you are going abroad for other non-urgent (planned) care, we also advise you to request prior authorisation. This way, you can be certain that you will be reimbursed for the care and what the level of reimbursement will be. Want to know more? See Permission for care abroad.
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Medical costs abroad may turn out higher than what the same care would have cost in the Netherlands. It is therefore important to know that the Free Choice basic health-care plan covers expenses up to a maximum of what the health care would have cost in the Netherlands. If the health care provided abroad is more expensive than this care in the Netherlands, you will have to pay the difference yourself. Do you have ONVZ Free Choice and our supplementary plan Wereldfit or Superfit? These plans sometimes reimburse the extra costs for scheduled health care in Belgium and Germany. If you have the Smart Choice basic health-care plan, maximum reimbursement limits apply.
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With a second opinion, you ask for the opinion of a doctor other than the one treating you. For example, if you have doubts about the diagnosis or the proposed treatment. You can also go to a doctor abroad. That doctor only gives his opinion. Usually based on your medical file. He will not repeat the diagnostic tests and will not treat you. With the opinion of the foreign doctor, you will return to the Netherlands. There, your own specialist will continue to treat you. The Free Choice basic health-care plan will reimburse this second opinion up to a maximum of the prevailing Dutch rate. For the ONVZ Smart Choice basic health-care plan, maximum reimbursement limits apply. For reimbursement, you always need a referral from your medical specialist or GP.
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Conditions that apply in the Netherlands also apply abroad. For example, if you need a referral for the treatment in the Netherlands, you will also need one if you are going abroad for treatment. You always need prior permission from ONVZ for admission to a foreign hospital or private clinic.
