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Cataract surgery abroad for public patients in the EU
Covered by your country's public health service under the Cross Border Directive.
A cataract slowly clouds the lens inside your eye, and during a long wait reading, driving at night and recognising faces can become harder.
Your cataract operation without the public wait: a fixed price in a private hospital in another EU country, paid back by your public health service. 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 a cataract operation 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 cataract 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 a cataract operation.
Fill in the Consent Form
You · about 15 minutes
Your details and documents, uploaded securely. You usually need a referral for a cataract operation 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 a cataract operation 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 cataract 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 for a short trip for each eye; you fly home once the surgeon has checked the eye, and the hospital's written plan gives the timing.
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. Your doctor follows up, and you check with them before you drive again.
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 cataract operation costs you
Our service
Nothing. The hospital that treats you pays us a referral fee.
The hospital
One fixed price for your cataract 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 a cataract operation costs in the public system at home, under your country's own rules.
The detail for a cataract operation
Your country's public health service pays back the cost up to what a cataract operation costs in a public hospital at home, under your country's own rules. The refund reaches you after the treatment, paid into your own account, and it does not cover your flights, your hotel or the person who comes with you. Whether your country asks for permission in advance, called prior authorisation, we check with you on the call. You see the hospital's price, fixed in writing, before you accept; where no hospital's price is within what the refund covers, we set out the gap in writing and leave the decision to you.
What is paid back, and when
Find out in one free call if a cataract operation in another EU country can work for you
Kaare Beck-Fischer, Chief Executive Officer
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What a cataract operation involves
A cataract is the lens inside the eye turning cloudy, which blurs and dims what you see. In the operation the surgeon makes a tiny cut at the edge of the cornea, breaks up the cloudy lens with ultrasound and removes it, and puts a clear, folded artificial lens in its place, where it unfolds and stays for life. The eye is numbed with drops or an injection, you are awake, and the operation itself takes about twenty minutes.
You wear a protective shield at first and use eye drops for some weeks. Sight usually improves within days and settles over a few weeks, and you will probably need new glasses once it has. One eye is usually done at a time; the surgeon decides when the second eye can follow.
Questions about a cataract 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 pageCan both eyes be done on one trip?
Usually one eye is done at a time. Some hospitals operate on the second eye a few days later, so that one trip covers both; the surgeon decides what is right for you. Many public health services pay one rate for each admission, whatever is done during it, so we ask the hospital to treat each eye as its own day case with its own invoice, and we claim each on its own where your country's rules allow it. Your proposal shows the expected refund for both eyes before you commit.
When can I fly home?
Once the surgeon has checked your eye after the operation. Each patient is different, so the surgeon makes the call, and your written proposal gives the hospital's usual timing. It helps to have someone with you on the day of the operation.
When can I drive, read or go back to work?
The surgeon tells you before you leave the hospital, and the discharge report puts it in writing for your own doctor. It differs from person to person, so ask the surgeon abroad, and your doctor once you are home. Check with your doctor before you drive again.
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. 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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