When you see your GP (general practitioner), you will have most of the cost of your treatment covered. You will normally have to pay a user fee which counts towards your exemption card for health services.
Check user fees and find your exemption card
Limit for exemption card for health services
You will receive your exemption card within three weeks after you have paid the maximum limit of NOK 3,165 in approved user fees.
Doctors and other treatment and service providers are required to report all approved user fees to Helfo at least every 14 days. Your user fees are automatically registered under your name. Read more about what happens when you have an exemption card or have paid more than the user fee limit.
Check the exemption card and user fees
Log in to find your exemption card, see registered user fees and change your account number.
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Your GP (fastlege) must have an agreement with Helfo
In order for you to be entitled to benefits from the National Insurance scheme, your GP must have an agreement with Helfo regarding direct settlement. You need to clarify this before the examination or treatment starts. Read more further down the page about the conditions.
Normal GP user fees
Only approved user fees count towards an exemption card for health services.
Your doctor will have a price list covering the main user fees and other expenses.
Here is a summary of the main user fees that count towards an exemption card:
Doctor | User fee daytime | User fee evening |
Consultation with GP | NOK 179 | NOK 301 |
E-consultation with GP | NOK 179 | NOK 179 |
Consultation/e-consultation with out-of-hours primary care service (kommunal legevakt) | NOK 179 | NOK 301 |
Consultation with GP where the doctor specialises in general medicine | NOK 235 | NOK 357 |
E-consultation with GP where the doctor specialises in general medicine | NOK 235 | NOK 235 |
Consultation/e-consultation with GP/out of out-of-hours primary care service (kommunal legevakt) where the doctor specialises in general medicine | NOK 235 | NOK 357 |
Medical visit by GP/out-of-hours primary care service (kommunal legevakt) | NOK 240 | NOK 384 |
Medical visit by GP specialising in general medicine | NOK 281 | NOK 425 |
Consultation with or medical visit from a specialist | NOK 403 | |
Laboratory tests | NOK 64 | |
X-ray | NOK 287 | |
Basic patient contact resulting in issuing of a sick-note or referral to a specialist | NOK 64 | NOK 62 |
Children and other groups that do not pay user fees
Most patients must pay a user fee when they see their GP.
However, some groups do not have to pay user fees for assessments and treatment by their GP. This applies for example to
- children under the age of 16
- children and young people under the age of 18 receiving psychotherapeutic treatment
- patients with an approved occupational injury
- soldiers serving compulsory military service
- pregnant women attending antenatal checkups
- initial medical examinations for individuals seeking emergency care after being subjected to violence in close relationships and/or sexual abuse
- persons with acommunicable disease which may endanger public healthand persons who suspect they may have such a disease. This applies for example to coronavirus (coronavirus, 2019-nCoV/SARS-CoV-2), chlamydia and gonorrhea. (Only in Norwegian)
If you are attending an appointment for a check-up or treatment by a doctor regarding late effects resulting from COVID-19/coronavirus, you will have to pay the user fee yourself. This will count towards your exemption card for health services.
Patient payments to doctors which do not count towards the exemption card scheme
You must cover expenses that are not approved user fees yourself. These expenses do not count towards an exemption card.
These expenses could for example be
- expenses for dressings and equipment necessary for your treatment
- issuing of medical certificates
- printing and sending of your medical records by your GP
- expenses for the seasonal influenza vaccine
Your GP may only charge the user fees referred to in the Regulations concerning subsidies to cover expenses for examination and treatment by a doctor.
Requirement for agreements with Helfo
In order for you to be entitled to benefits from the National Insurance scheme, your GP must have an agreement with Helfo regarding direct settlement.
Your GP is obliged to inform you before the treatment starts if they do not have a direct settlement with Helfo, so you will know whether or not you have to pay the entire bill yourself. This obligation follows from Section 6 of the Health Personnel Act.
Payments for medical specialists
Your GP may sometimes refer you to a medical specialist, such as a doctor at a hospital.
The same rules normally apply to user fees and contributions for medical specialists as for GPs. If you are referred to a specialist at a private practice, it is a condition that the specialist has a funding contract with a regional health trust authority.
Below are links to the websites of each health region, with an overview of medical specialists who have an agreement with Helfo:
