Health Care Denmark

Everyone who has a CPR number and a residence permit is eligible for free medical care. Once you are registered and a have your residence permit, you will be issued a health insurance card/sundhedskort or as some call it a "CPR card". You must carry this card with you to access the health care Denmark system.

FYI: Little known fact among expats. You do not have to choose one of the doctors listed on the kommune list. If you decide to use one of them you are classified as a CLASS 1. If you wish to find your own doctor (which is your right), you will be classified as a CLASS 2.

If you are a CLASS 2, you will need to pay for your doctor fees yourself and submit the receipts for refund. The problem with this is that you will only get refunded the standard amounts allowed by the government. Your doctor may charge more or the same? You will be responsible for the difference. You will also need recommendations to see other specialists that a CLASS 1 would not need. Only choose this method if you can afford it and have a doctor in mind that you know and wish to see.

What does the Health Care Denmark System cover?

2. Emergency and after hours care. (lægevagten)

3. Hospital treatment, hospital stay, surgery and aftercare.

4. Dental treatment allowance.

5. Prescription drug allowance.

6. Physiotherapy allowance

7. Osteopathic allowance

8. Pyschotherapy allowance.

9. Chiropractic allowance.

What Denmark Health Care Denmark System does not cover?

1. Fertility treatment - limited funding.

2. Cosmetic surgery - elective

Learn more about your Prescription drug allowance here!

Illness

Depending on your illness and how busy your practice is, it is possible to get a same day appointment, but it is not unusual to have to wait several days to see a doctor.

If your problem needs the expertise of a specialist, your doctor will set an appointment for you or give you a "henvisning" (referral). This does not apply to chiropractors, ear nose and throat specialists, dentists and opthamologists.

Normal hours for consultations is between 9am and 4pm. This may vary from practice to practice. Many have late hours one night a week.

If you get ill or need non acute medical care outside of normal working hours, you can call the lægevagt.

This is a number you should have handy. The lægevagt is an after hour service, where doctors in your area take shifts answering emergency calls and doing home visits.

Below is a list of lægevagt numbers for the health care Denmark doctors. You can only call the number that is for your area. If you live in Zealand, you can not call the number for Funen.

This is what will happen when you call a lægevagt.

First, when you call, you can choose to converse in one of 3 languages - Danish, English and German.

When you get the doctor on the phone, describe your symptons, reason for calling, etc..

Give as much information as possible, so the doctor can decide what is the next best thing to do.

They may just give you advice on how to solve your problem.

They may send a doctor out to visit you and determine what is happening.

If it is very serious, they may suggest you go to your local hospital or they may send an ambulance /Falck if necessary.

Make sure you have your CPR number handy, address of where you are calling from and if you are calling for someone else, as much personal information as you can gather.

If calling from a landline telephone number, they will have your address automatically. If calling from a mobile, they will usually need the address from where you are calling.

There are also lægevagt at the local hospitals, but you should always call the above numbers first and be told to go to the hospital lægevagt. You may not be attended to if you have not called in first. Very important to remember that fact.

Now if you think it is an emergency, get someone to start driving you to the hospital lægevagt and than call on the way and explain the situation. This may save you a lot of time and get treatment sooner, but you must be advised before checking in at the hospital.

When you enter a hospital lægevagt, you need to run your CPR Card through the card reader.

They are usually located close to the door as you enter. If you do not scan your card, the doctor will not know you are there and also you will not be in the queue to see a doctor.

To learn more about how a lægevagten works and some of the conditions, check out Lægevagten. The site is in Danish, but copy the web address into "google translate" and see it all in English or your favorite language.

Remember: There is no fee for seeing a doctor or going to the hospital. You pay for that through your taxes.

If it is an EMERGENCY call 112. This is the number for the emergency services, like Falck or if you need an ambulance, etc.. This is for emergencies only! Heart attacks, can't breath, life threatening situations. Please do not call for medical advice on illness. Call the lægevagt for that.

Waiting Times

Waiting times can be VERY long. Now the times have come down alot and you can do things to shorten your wait.

The government has now allowed people who have a waiting time of over 1 month, to check for hospitals with shorter waiting lists.

Once you have gotten a referral, you can check out other hospitals that might have a shorter waiting time. You are allowed to go one of them if they will accept you.

Some surgery is also allowed to be taken outside of Denmark and the health service will cover most of the cost.

Beware: You may have pay a portion yourself. Here is where having additional medical insurance can really pay off. Always check with your local kommune before heading out for surgery in another country.

Here you can check out health care denmark waiting times for operations.

Health care Denmark Update 2011

I am not sure if this is a good idea or it will cause more problems. I like the idea that my hospital will know my medical history when I am brought to them and do not have to rehash everything that is already in my file. (including trying to remember dates of certain illnesses or accidents).

And vice versa is that my private physician will also know exactly what happened to me while in the hospital. When going to specialists, they can also access my files so that they will know my history.

As a cost effective and time reduction measure, it seems like very good plan. Doctors and nurses will now have more time to treat and care for patients rather than re-entering data or researching the patients history.

The drawback is the security issue and how many people will now have access to all my personal information. Hopefully, security measures will be in place.

Time will tell how well this new program will work in Denmark and in other parts of Europe where the plan is also being implemented.