Maximum user charges
Denmark
There are no rules in Denmark for maximum user charges, except for pharmaceutical products and dental treatment (cf. the section on reimbursement for dental treatment). For prescription medicine covered by the reimbursement scheme there is a maximum annual user charge of DKK 4 850.
Faroe Islands
For subsidized medicine, there is a maximum user charge of DKK 2,783 annually for people in the age of 18-67 years old (2026). For people aged 67 and over, the maximum annual user charge is DKK 1,880 (2026). No charges apply to children under 18 years of age.
Greenland
There are no user charges in Greenland except for non-prescription medicines and some types of dental treatment. There are no maximum user charges.
Finland
If the total cost of pharmaceutical products exceeds EUR 636.12 per year, or if travelling costs for treatment exceed EUR 300 per year, the Social Insurance Institution reimburses the excess costs.
If a person's ability to pay taxes is reduced because of sickness, a special tax relief may be granted. The amount of the tax relief is calculated on the basis of the person's and his/her family's ability to pay taxes.
User charges for a long-term stay in an institution or a hospital cannot exceed 85 per cent of a customer’s net income per month. If the spouse with the highest income is hospitalized, the user charge for the hospitalization cannot exceed 42.5 per cent of the spouse’s joint net income per month. A customer in long-term service housing with 24-hour care and customers in long-term family care must have at least EUR 195 per month for personal necessities. For customers in long-term inpatient care, the limit is EUR 131. The same user charge is payable in all kinds of institutions within the social and health care sectors.
A user charge ceiling of EUR 815 is applied by the municipal social and welfare sectors. Once the ceiling for the present calendar year is exceeded, the user may generally utilize services free of charge. The ceiling applies to physician services in the primary health care sector, physiotherapy, out-patient treatment, day surgery and short-term stays in institutions in the social and health sectors. Dental care, patient transport, certificates, laboratory tests and radiological examinations requisitioned by private physicians must still be paid for. Income-regulated payments are not included in the maximum amount.
User charges for children under 18 years of age are added to the amount paid by the person who has paid the user charges.
Åland
The rules for maximum user charges for pharmaceutical products and transport to and from treatment are the same as in Finland.
Åland applies annual user charge ceilings for publicly provided health care services. In 2026 the maximum annual user charge is EUR 450 for most adults, EUR 125 for persons with taxable income below EUR 21 000 and EUR 100 for children and young people up to and including the calendar year in which they turn 21.
Once the applicable ceiling has been reached services covered by the scheme are generally provided free of charge. For certain services reduced user charges may continue to apply. The ceilings apply to specified outpatient services, short-term institutional care and certain other health care services. User charges paid for necessary or acute treatment outside Åland and for care received under the EU patient mobility rules may also be counted towards the ceiling.
Iceland
A co-payment system applies to publicly subsidised health-care services in Iceland. The system provides a maximum co-payment per month, after which lower user charges apply. The maximum amount differs for certain groups, including older persons, persons with disabilities and children.
Children within the same family are counted as one person in the co-payment system. Children under two years of age do not pay user charges, while children aged 2–17 are subject to a separate maximum co-payment. Children under 18 may receive certain health care services free of charge when the applicable referral and other conditions are met.
The co-payment system covers a range of publicly subsidised health care services, including consultations at primary health care centres, specialists in private practice, outpatient and day-care services, diagnostic and imaging services, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and certain psychological services for children.
Pharmaceutical products are not included in the health care services co-payment system and are subject to a separate pharmaceutical co-payment system.
Further information:
Norway
When the ceiling for user charges is reached, patients are eligible for an exemption card (frikort for helsetjenester) valid for the rest of the calendar year. The ceiling or the upper limit is set annually by the Norwegian Parliament. From January 2021, there is one single exemption card scheme in Norway, instead of two schemes, as before. This means that patients can use the same exemption card for all the health services that are currently covered by the two different exemption cards. The new user fee ceiling is NOK 2 460 (2021). The user fees are registered automatically.
Patients must pay any expense that are not approved user fees. These expenses do not count towards your exemption card for health services. This could be fees for bandages and equipment which is necessary for treatment.
Some groups are exempt from paying user fees for examination and treatment by a doctor. For example this applies to: children under the age 16, children and adolescents under the age of 18 who receive psychotherapeutic treatment, patients who have received a decision concerning an occupational injury, soldiers serving compulsory military service (førstegangstjeneste), pregnant women attending antenatal checkups, patients suffering from an infectious disease which constitutes a risk to public safety, such as the coronavirus (coronavirus, 2019-nCoV/SARS-CoV-2), chlamydia and gonorrhoea, and persons suspected of having such a disease and initial medical examination for individuals seeking emergency care after being subjected to violence in close relationships and/or sexual abuse.
Sweden
Persons who reside in Sweden are eligible to high-cost protection when paying for the prescribed medication.
You pay yourself the whole cost up to a threshold of SEK 1 425. The cost of your prescribed medications will gradually decrease over a twelve-month period. During this period, you never pay more than SEK 2 850. When the total cost of the medication before the discount amounts to SEK 6 994, you will have paid SEK 2 850 yourself. You will then receive a free card for the remainder of the current twelve-month period.
The maximum user charge over a twelve-month period is SEK 1 400 for outpatient care (2024). This also applies to children up to 18 years. When the maximum payment has been reached, patients can receive health care free of charge in any region for twelve months.
The general high-cost protection scheme applies to Swedish citizens and covers patient fees for consultations in outpatient care, incontinence aids, some types of laboratory tests and x-ray, certain dental care procedures, and acute care provided in other EU/EES countries. The general regulations apply to both public and private health care providers contracted by the regional authorities. The free health card does not cover: inpatient hospital care, non-appearance fees, certificates, vaccines, health examinations, etc.
Individuals who are non-residents and registered as asylum seekers have reduced patient fees and are entitled to apply for a special high-cost protection scheme that covers health care and medicines above SEK 400 over a six-month period.
Contraceptives are free of charge for persons below 21 years.
The regional health authorities decide on user charges for different types of services available in their geographical area. The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKR) publishes annual overviews of both the general rules and the fees applied by regional authorities, as well as conditions that apply regionally.
The Act on pharmaceutical products benefits regulates high-cost protection and allowances. The Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Agency (Tandvårds- och läkemedelsförmånsverket, TLV) decides which pharmaceutical products, medical devices and dental care procedures should be subsidized by the government.