Due to tourists refusing to pay after visits to the emergency care in Tromsø, a pre-pay arrangement is being implemented where 1500 has to be paid in advance.
Some tourists seems to believe all health care is free in Norway, but most seemingly just skips paying as invoices billed afterwards are left unpaid once they get to leave Norway.
A "significant cost" to the local community is left to the Tromsø tax payer as a result, as 500 000 tourists floods the small arctic town this winter season.
Introduces fees and prepayment for tourists: – Leaving the emergency room without paying.
Tourists believe medical attention is free in Norway, and goes without settling. Now the municipality of Tromsø has had to introduce a fee.
This confirms the deputy director of health and care in the municipality, Andre Sollied-Sørensen. He says the reason for this is that the tourists incur significant costs on the municipality every year, in the form of health care.
– There is a good proportion of the tourists who leave the emergency room without paying. Many people know that medical health services in Norway are good, and may think that it is part of the welfare service. So it’s not necessarily because they want to sneak away from payment, but because they think it’s free.
– In fact, it is true that the municipality of Tromsø has a responsibility to ensure health care for those who stay in our municipality at all times. The needs can be anything from a sore throat in part very serious illness. It comes with some costs, which we have to cover, explains Sollied Sørensen.
Therefore, the municipality has adopted a sum of NOK 1500 as a prepayment per consultation on the emergency room, in its fee list. The list is going for political treatment, and if there is agreement on the fee, it will apply from October 15 this year.
Trude Wester, unit manager and acting section manager in Tromsø emergency room, adds:
-The fee will apply to those who do not have a valid European health insurance card, ie citizens outside EEA countries or citizens of the EEA who cannot present a valid health insurance card.
The purpose of the fee is that the municipality should still be able to offer medical services to everyone staying in Tromsø, but have some of the costs of those who are not entitled to get it free.
According to Wester, both Trondheim and Bergen have already introduced the fee model on their municipal emergency rooms.
Hard to bill
Andre Sollied Sørensen says it is the big increase in tourism to Tromsø, which means that the municipality now follows the big cities.
– There is an increase in the number of tourists that causes this to force such measures. It is sometimes hectic at the emergency room, but we have good people who are good at prioritizing and taking away, he says.
– Is it difficult for the municipality to bill for this afterwards?
– Yes, that is precisely what is the problem here, that at best the invoice will come to the recipient, and the payment rate is low.
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Posted by LongLeather8083
8 Comments
Unbelievable how people just don’t have any fking decency.
Emergency room care is free anywhere in the EU and the US. What’s Norway doing? People will be dying on the street if this is implemented!
While I wasn’t in Tromsø, I was near Tønsberg and Horten. My son had broken his arm on our trip, went to the urgent care in Horten and got a referral to the emergency room at the hospital in Tønsberg. The doctor at the urgent care stated that there was no charge. When I was at the hospital, I was never asked to pay, and never received any invoice, nor was my insurance billed. Is this a different story for children versus adults? Genuinely curious.
Fucking muricans lol
Every time I go to Norway to visit family (I’m an American), I call my insurance company well in advance to make sure I have international coverage. If I need to, I pay extra to get that coverage for the time I’m gone. I also type out any instructions my insurer gives me for what to do in the case of an emergency. So far, I’ve never needed medical care while there.
I don’t want any outstanding debts for Norway. I’d be afraid that you guys would never let me in again, which would kill my soul.
Honestly not sure why tourists do it but at least travel medical insurance before visiting a place. They are super cheap. We did so a couple of years ago while visiting Norway for a month as our 2 year old kid used to get regular ear infection and high fevers. Low and behold she developed fever on the 2nd day. During the one month stay we went to the doctor and hospital there 4 times and paid out of our pocket and kept the receipt. Insurance paid back all the money.
For the hospital they didn’t even charge us on the spot and said they will send me the bill over email since by that time we would have left Norway. I got the bill and paid off right away and replied back to their email confirming the payment. I definitely could have gotten away by not paying. But I have no intention on stealing money from people who treated my daughter knowing we are tourists and we may never pay.
If anyone is interested, Allianz was the insurance company. They refunded me all the money also that we spent at doctors office and pharmacies. The insurance was 62 dollars or something for a whole month if I remember correctly. All the visits cost us over 400+ dollars and they refunded us without any questions.
My American relative had to go to the ER here in Trondheim. Wasn’t given an option to pay. Seemed they didn’t know how to register him. So he left without getting to pay🤷♂️
I wonder what hellhole these tourists come from…
It’s the USA, isn’t it?