Slovakia
In emergencies call 112 or 155 (ambulance) to obtain help.
Accessing care
With the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), you can receive medically necessary treatment when you are temporarily staying in Slovakia. Medically necessary treatment means treatment that cannot wait until you return home. You may need such treatment, for example, due to sudden illness or an accident.
You can also receive treatment related to pregnancy, childbirth, or chronic illnesses. If you have a condition that requires regular treatment while you are staying abroad, contact a health care provider in advance to arrange the treatment.
The European Health Insurance Card does not guarantee free treatment and you will be charged the same amount as local residents. We recommend carrying additional copies of your card. If you do not have a European Health Insurance Card or if it is not accepted, you will need to pay the cost of treatment yourself. You can then apply for reimbursement from Kela afterward.
Choose a healthcare provider from public and private treatment providers that have an agreement with one of the following health insurance companies (most of them do):
You can choose your place of treatment freely, as long as it has an agreement with one of these companies. The companies will only reimburse treatment provided by facilities that have an agreement with them. Contact information for contracted healthcare service providers is available from the health insurance companies. When you present your European Health Insurance Card at the place of tretment, you will usually be able to get treatment without needing to register with a health insurance company in advance.
If the healthcare provider has a contract with one of the health insurance companies, the logo and name of that health insurance company is usually displayed in the waiting room or on the entrance door to the doctor’s room. In case you are not sure about the contracting status of the healthcare provider in question, you should ask for this kind of information before your treatment.
Slovakia also has completely private healthcare providers who do not have a contract with a health insurance company. If you seek treatment from such a provider, you will be liable for all costs yourself.
Notice to travellers in the mountain regions of Slovakia
Rescue, first aid and medical transport expenses in the mountain regions of Slovakia are not covered by public healthcare; you need to pay for them yourself. The costs may amount to thousands of euros and it is highly recommended to have a separate private insurance if traveling in these areas.
Sudden illness
Doctor
Make an appointment with a general practitioner who has an agreement with a Slovakian health insurance company. At the reception, show your European Health Insurance Card and your identity card. You need to indicate which health insurance company you choose and how long you will be staying in Slovakia. This way you will receive treatment free of charge. Seeing a specialist requires a referral from a general practitioner, and the treatment is free in this case.
Dentist
You can see a dentist without a referral. You can get essential dental treatment free of charge at a contracted dentist. You can get information about these dentists from health insurance companies. The payment procedure is similar to that of a general practitioner. Free treatment includes basic materials. The dentist is responsible for notifying you in advance if more expensive materials are used for the treatment. The patient must pay the difference between the prices of more expensive and basic materials. The prices vary between dentists.
Medication
You can collect prescribed medicines from any pharmacy. Show your European Health Insurance Card and your identity card. The amount you will have to pay yourself depends on the medicine.
Hospital treatment
A doctor’s referral is required for hospital treatment. At the hospital, show your European Health Insurance Card and your identity card. If you do not have the card, you can order to the hospital a temporary certificate that replaces it via the Slovakian health insurance companies listed above, for example. If the patient’s state of health prevents them from choosing a company, the hospital will make the choice on their behalf. Once the required documents have been presented at the hospital, the treatment and medicines will be free of charge.
In an emergency, you can go straight to the first aid unit of a contract hospital. Show your European Health Insurance Card and your identity card. A small first aid fee will be charged unless the patient is admitted into the hospital. Please note that some demanding treatments may be very expensive and are not necessarily reimbursed in Slovakia. You can apply for reimbursement for these costs from Kela retrospectively.
Ambulance transport is free in case of emergency.
If your illness requires you to use special transport when returning to Finland, you will be liable for the travel costs in their entirety. You are recommended to take out a travel insurance that covers these costs.
Read more about suddenly falling ill in Europe.
Read more about reimbursement of costs of treatment abroad.
Useful websites
If you want to travel to Slovakia to use healthcare services there, you should read our website for general information about seeking treatment abroad. You should direct your questions about healthcare in Slovakia to the Slovakian National Contact Point.
Information concerning healthcare is available in English on the websites of the Contact Point of Slovakia and the National Health Information Center (Národné centrum zdravotníckych informácií).
Website Zzz.sk (in Slovak) has a list of hospitals in the country. The website also has a search engine with which you can search for a doctor, ambulance, optician or other health care service providers.
Quality and safety of treatment
The Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic, the Health Care Surveillance Authority and medical associations supervise the quality of operations within the healthcare sector. More information concerning quality control and complaint procedures is available on the website of the Contact Point of Slovakia.
You can use the search engine on the Contact Point of Slovakia’s website to determine whether your service provider of choice is authorised to operate in the healthcare sector.
In the event of treatment injuries, the legislation and patient insurance of the country providing the treatment is always applied. In case you are unhappy with the treatment you received, you should primarily try to sort the matter out with the treatment provider. The national contact point can help you with finding the right authority if you wish to make a complaint.
Healthcare system
In Slovakia, healthcare is provided on the basis of public (obligatory) health insurance. In principle, everyone has the right to free healthcare. In some cases (e.g. dental care and medicines), the patient must pay the healthcare expenses in part or in full by law.
There are three health insurance companies in the Slovak Republic. All of them are joint stock companies governing public resources and function in the whole territory of the Slovak Republic. Everyone has the right to choose his or her health insurance company.
The Slovak healthcare system includes both public and private healthcare services. Each healthcare segment is operated by public and private healthcare providers. Public and private health care providers generally have contracts with the health insurance companies.