Questions that patients and their families ask, with plain answers. Every country has rules of its own; where the answer depends on your country, we say so, and we check your own case with you on the call. Ablement is not part of any public health service; the official information for your country comes from its National Contact Point. If your question is not here, ask us in the chat or schedule a free call.
In most countries, no. The directive does not ask you to have waited any length of time. Some countries ask for a referral from a doctor, or that a specialist in your public system has seen you first. We tell you what your country asks for before you do anything.
Anyone who is entitled to public healthcare in a European Union country, as long as the treatment is one that country's public system provides at home. The same right applies in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Each country adds rules of its own, such as a referral or prior authorisation. We check your country's rules with you on the call.
Most countries ask for one before they pay back treatment abroad, because your country may ask for the same things it asks for at home. The letter should go to the specialty, for example the orthopaedic surgeon, not to a named hospital, and it should be dated before your consultation with the hospital. A mistake in the letter can cost you the refund, so we check it with you before you book anything.
Many doctors know the scheme, but not all. The decision to refer is your doctor's; a doctor is not obliged to refer a patient abroad. Your country's National Contact Point answers questions about the rules from patients and doctors. We tell you what the letter must say before you ask for it.
It depends on your country and on the treatment. A country may ask for permission in advance, called prior authorisation, for treatment with a night in hospital or costly equipment; in the European Commission's latest count, 19 of the 27 member states have such a system for some treatments. Treatment without a required authorisation is not paid back, so it is the first thing we check. If your country requires it, we prepare the application with you, and your hospital date is confirmed only once it is granted.
It can, so check before you book anything. Which country pays back depends on which country covers your public healthcare, and if your pension or income comes from another country, that country may be the one that covers you. We ask you about this in our first conversation, before anything else happens.
Some countries ask that you have an outpatient consultation with the hospital's specialist before the operation, in person or by video. Your referral letter should be dated before that consultation. We tell you what your country asks for and arrange it with the hospital.
There is no fixed list. As a general rule, any planned treatment that your public system provides at home can be covered abroad. Hip and knee replacements are common examples. Not covered: long-term nursing care, organ transplants and public vaccination programmes. The treatment must be in a European Union country, or in Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein; countries outside that group, such as the United Kingdom, Switzerland or Turkey, are not covered. Ablement arranges planned operations at private hospitals in another EU member state, and your written proposal names the hospital and its country before you commit.
The choice is yours, with your own doctor. Public bodies do not recommend or approve hospitals abroad. By law, a hospital in another European Union country must give you clear information on its prices, its registration and its insurance cover. We propose one hospital for your treatment, the best match we can find for your case, and give you that information, the surgeon and its English-language support in writing, so that you and your doctor can decide. Where your country requires prior authorisation, it decides on your application before you travel; otherwise it decides your claim afterwards.
No. The card is for care you need unexpectedly while you are abroad. The Cross Border Directive is for planned treatment: you choose the hospital, which can be private, you pay first and you claim the cost back from your own country. There is also an older route for planned treatment at a public hospital abroad, where your country pays the hospital directly; it needs permission in advance, and we do not use it.
Nobody can promise that in advance; your public body decides after treatment, when it has your documents. Whether you get everything back depends on two things: that the hospital's price is no higher than your country's rate for your treatment, and that your paperwork meets your country's rules: the referral, any prior authorisation, the consultation and proof that you paid yourself. We go through each of these points with you before you pay anything.
It differs by country, and it can take several months. We tell you what your country's public body says about its own times before you decide. We send your claim within five working days of your return home and follow it up until it is decided. If you are borrowing to pay the hospital, plan for months, not weeks.
Whichever is lower: what you paid the hospital, or what the same treatment would have cost your public system at home, under your country's own rules. We tell you in writing which rate applies to your treatment before you decide. The final figure is set by your public body after treatment, so we cannot promise it.
Then you pay the difference yourself. We look for a hospital whose fixed price is below your country's rate for your treatment. If no hospital offers one, we tell you and show you the gap in writing, and you decide.
You pay the hospital, not us, and you pay before you are paid back. When depends on the hospital's own terms: some hospitals ask for a deposit when you accept and the balance before you are admitted; others invoice after treatment. Your written proposal says exactly when and how, before you commit to anything. The payment must come from an account in your own name, with a receipt in your name, because the claim needs proof that you paid the hospital yourself. If a family member wants to help with the cost, they should transfer the money to you first. Ablement does not lend money, does not arrange loans and never handles your payment. If paying first is a problem, say so on the call, and we tell you honestly whether this route works for you.
In most countries, no. You pay for flights, the hotel before and after your hospital stay, transfers and meals outside the hospital. The hospital's invoice shows the treatment on its own, so that your claim is clear. We check that the invoice is in the right form before you fly home.
Yes, you can bring someone. Their flights, hotel and meals are your own cost; the scheme covers only your treatment. Whether you need someone with you depends on the operation and on what the hospital advises for the journey home; ask the surgeon at your consultation. The Consent Form asks whether an adult can travel with you and stay with you after the treatment.
The claim is yours: you sign it, and the refund is paid to you. We prepare the claim pack with the hospital's itemised invoice, your receipt and proof that you paid the hospital yourself, check every document and send it to your country's public health service under the authority you gave us on the Consent Form. The claim contains personal and medical details, so we handle it only through our secure tool, as our privacy notice explains.
Every country has a way to appeal, with its own deadline. We explain the decision and draft the appeal for you, free of charge; you sign and send it. We cannot promise the result, and we cannot cover a shortfall.
While you are there, the hospital that treated you looks after you, on the terms for complications and extra nights that you saw in writing before you paid. If treatment harms you, the law of the country where you were treated applies, and that country must have a complaints procedure. Once home, go to your own doctor, or to an emergency department if it is urgent; you are entitled to the same follow-up as if you had been treated at home. Ablement is not a hospital and carries no responsibility for your medical care, but we are easy to reach and we help you deal with the hospital.
Your own doctor, with the discharge report from the hospital. Follow-up in your public system, such as physiotherapy, is arranged in the usual way at home, and it may involve a wait, so speak to your doctor before you travel. We ask the hospital for a discharge report in English and check with you before you fly home that you have every document.
It depends on the hospital, so it is one of the things we settle before we propose one. The hospital gives you an English-speaking liaison as your first contact there. We tell you in writing what English-language support the hospital provides: at the consultation, on the ward and in your discharge papers. If you would rather speak another language at the hospital, tell us; we cannot promise it, but we will ask.
Every operation carries risk, at home or abroad; your surgeon explains the risks of yours at the consultation. The hospital works under the law and the quality rules of its own country, and European Union law says it must tell you about its registration and its liability insurance. You are entitled to ask who the surgeon is and what happens if you need to stay longer. We give you the hospital's answers in writing before you decide. We give no medical advice.
Within one to two working days of your Consent Form we tell you whether you are eligible. Once your file is complete, you receive our written proposal within five working days, and once you accept, the hospital confirms your date in writing. How soon that date is depends on the hospital, on any tests the surgeon asks for and, in some countries, on prior authorisation. How long you stay depends on your operation and on when the surgeon says you are fit to travel home.
It depends on your health and on the operation. Whether you are fit to fly out, and when you are fit to fly home, are questions for your own doctor and the surgeon. We set out the whole journey for you in writing before you decide, so that you or your family can judge whether it is manageable. We suggest a hotel near the hospital and send you a one-page trip sheet before you travel. The flights, the hotel and the transfers are yours to book and pay for, and so are a companion's. Airlines offer free assistance at the airport if you walk with difficulty; it must be booked in advance. A family member can join every call and meeting with us, if you name them on the Consent Form.
It is legal. It is a right under European Union law since 2011, and it is your own country's public body that pays you back. It is not free money, though. You pay the hospital first. The refund stops at your country's rate. Travel and accommodation are, as a rule, not covered. And a claim can be refused if your country's rules are not met. That is exactly the paperwork we handle for you.
Yes. In 2024, public bodies in the European Union, Norway and Iceland paid back about 290,000 claims for treatment in another country under the directive, according to the European Commission's figures. We are straight with you about what we know and what we cannot promise.
Ablement is a private company, Ablement ApS, registered in Denmark. We are not part of any public health service and we are not paid by one. Our service costs you nothing. We are paid a referral fee by the hospital that treats you; the Consent Form says so. This means we propose a hospital that has an agreement with us. You never pay Ablement: you pay the hospital directly, and your public body pays the refund to you. Hospitals in the European Union must charge patients from other member states the same prices as their own patients in the same situation.
Because the right comes from European Union law. The directive gives you the right to be paid back for treatment in another European Union country. It does not oblige a country to pay private hospitals at home that are outside its public system. Public bodies do not recommend going abroad and do not approve particular hospitals or companies; the decision is one for you and your doctor.