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Weight-loss surgery abroad for public patients in the EU
Covered by your country's public health service under the Cross Border Directive.
If your weight is already harming your health, a long public wait can feel like time you do not have.
Weight-loss surgery without the public wait: a fixed price in a private hospital in another EU country, paid back by your public health service where you meet the public system's criteria. The hospital, the surgeon, the price and your stay are in writing before you decide.
Free · no commitment · no documents · by video or phone, at a time you pick
Your right under EU law since 2011
290,000claims paid back to patients across Europe in 2024
Your rights under the schemeHow long you wait for weight-loss surgery depends on where you live: waiting times differ widely between EU countries, and between regions within a country. We look at your own wait with you.
Your own public health service's published waiting times; no single European figure is quoted here
Your weight-loss operation in another EU country, step by step.
Eight steps from the first conversation to your refund. You commit at step 4, not before.
Before you commit
Stop at any time, at no cost
Talk to us
You
Schedule a free call, by video or phone, at a time you pick. We check your country's rules with you and tell you how the route works for weight-loss surgery.
Fill in the Consent Form
You · about 15 minutes
Your details and documents, uploaded securely. You usually need a referral for weight-loss surgery from your own doctor, or a letter showing you are on a public waiting list for it; we tell you what your country asks for.
We determine your eligibility
Ablement · within 1 to 2 working days
You get a clear yes or no on whether you are eligible for weight-loss surgery in another EU country, checked against your country's rules.
We find a private hospital
Ablement · within 5 working days of a complete file
We ask the hospitals and send you one written proposal: the hospital, the surgeon, the price of your weight-loss operation, the dates and your expected refund.
After you commit
We stay with you to the refund
Your date is confirmed
The hospital
The hospital confirms your date in writing within 10 working days of your acceptance, and then you book your travel. Plan to be away for your nights in hospital and a few more days nearby; the hospital's written plan says how many.
Your treatment abroad
The hospital
You meet your surgeon before the operation, by video before you travel or in person at the hospital, as your country's rules and the hospital allow. You have your operation and fly home when the surgeon says you are fit to fly. You pay the hospital directly and send us the documents for your claim.
We claim your refund
Ablement · within 5 working days of your return
We send your signed claim to your public health service and follow it until you are paid. How long the decision takes depends on your country; we tell you before you decide.
Your aftercare at home
Your own doctor
Your own doctor and the public system take over, as if you had the operation at home. Weight-loss surgery needs follow-up for years, including help with diet; talk to your own doctor before you travel so that it is planned.
One contact person, from the first conversation to the refund.
Easy to reach at every step. A family member can join every call.
What a weight-loss operation costs you
Our service
Nothing. The hospital that treats you pays us a referral fee.
The hospital
One fixed price for your weight-loss operation, in writing before you commit. You pay the hospital directly, before your public health service pays you back.
Your public health service
Pays you back up to what weight-loss surgery costs in the public system at home, under your country's own rules.
The detail for a weight-loss operation
Your country's public health service pays back the cost of weight-loss surgery up to what a gastric sleeve or gastric bypass costs in the public system at home, or the invoice if that is lower, and only when you meet the criteria your public system uses for this operation; in most countries a specialist service assesses you before you are referred for surgery. It is paid to you once the operation is behind you, into your own bank account, and it does not include flights, a hotel or anyone travelling with you. Whether your country asks for permission in advance, called prior authorisation, we check with you on the call. The hospital puts its price in writing before you say yes; if no hospital can offer a price within the refund, we show you the shortfall in writing and you decide.
What is paid back, and when
Find out in one free call if a weight-loss operation in another EU country can work for you
Kaare Beck-Fischer, Chief Executive Officer
No commitment and no documents needed.
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What a weight-loss operation involves
Weight-loss surgery is for people whose weight is already harming their health, when diet, exercise and medicines have not been enough. A gastric sleeve removes a large part of the stomach and leaves a narrow tube, so you feel full after a small meal. A gastric bypass makes a small pouch at the top of the stomach and joins it directly to the small bowel, so food bypasses most of the stomach and the first part of the bowel. Both are done by keyhole surgery, under a general anaesthetic, and both also change the hormones that control hunger.
The surgery is a tool, not a cure: it works together with lasting changes in how you eat, and most people need vitamin and mineral supplements for life and regular follow-up for years. Weight comes off over the first one to two years, and conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure often improve. The surgeon discusses the risks and the demands of each operation with you before you decide.
Questions about a weight-loss operation
Short answers to what people ask us most. Open a question to read the answer.
All frequently asked questionsYour question isn't here?
Ask us in the chat Or send us a message from the Contact pageAm I eligible for weight-loss surgery abroad?
The refund follows your own public system's criteria, which usually look at your body mass index, a measure of weight against height, together with illness related to your weight and a period of assessment. A letter confirming that you are on a public waiting list for weight-loss surgery is often one of the documents accepted. In our first call we go through your situation and your country's rules and tell you honestly whether this route looks open to you.
Sleeve or bypass: who decides?
Your surgeon decides together with you at the consultation, based on your health and your history. Your written proposal then names the operation the price is for, so there is no doubt about what you are accepting.
What happens with follow-up once I am home?
Life after weight-loss surgery needs long-term follow-up, including help with diet, for years rather than weeks. That care is with your own doctor and your public system, as if you had been operated on at home: under the Cross Border Directive, the same follow-up must be available to you as after an operation at home, and your doctor refers you for it. Talk to your doctor before you travel, so that the follow-up is planned before the operation.
Will I lose my place on the waiting list at home?
No. The Cross Border Directive does not ask you to leave a waiting list to use it, and you stay on it until you have been treated. Once your operation is done abroad, you let your hospital at home know, so it can take you off the list. If you change your mind before then, nothing has changed at home.
Do I have to pay up front?
Yes. You pay the hospital directly, and your public health service pays you back afterwards; how long that takes depends on your country, and we tell you before you decide. Some people use savings or help from their family. We do not lend money or arrange loans, and no money of yours passes through us.
Is it safe, and what if something goes wrong?
You see the hospital and the surgeon's name in writing before you decide anything, and you have a consultation with the surgeon before the operation, by video or in person as your country's rules require. Every hospital we work with must be registered with its country's health authorities, use surgeons who specialise in the operation, give its price and its terms on complications in writing, and give you an English-speaking contact person. The hospital that treats you is responsible for your care, and it must have a complaints procedure. We help you deal with the hospital, and at home your own doctor takes over as after any operation.
Why is your help free? What's the catch?
There is no catch. The hospital that treats you pays us a referral fee; you never pay us anything, and the hospital's price is fixed in writing before you accept. You can stop at any time before you sign with the hospital.
Will my health service really pay me back?
The Cross Border Directive is EU law, and 290,000 claims were paid back across Europe in 2024 alone. The refund is yours when your country's rules are met: usually a referral, any permission your country asks for in advance, the itemised invoice and your receipt. We check your country's rules with you before you pay anything, and we prepare the claim with you.
Can a family member come with me, or join the calls?
Yes. A family member can join every call and meeting, be named on your Consent Form and travel with you. Their travel and hotel are your own cost.
Find out if this route can work for you
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