There is a new fee structure for the Portuguese National Health Service and it will start on the 1st January 2012.

If you have a “Cartão de Utente” (or paper equivalent) and use the Health System here in Portugal then these fees apply to you. If you are resident in Portugal you are entitled to be registered in the Health System. If you retired and get paid a pension from your 'home' country then you still register but the charges are passed back to your 'home' country. eg All other health service charges for a British pensioner would be charged to the NHS, although the following fees still apply.

If you are a European visitor to Portugal then you will have your countries own European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) and you show this when accessing any emergency health service. If charges are made you will get a reciept and can claim them back when you return home, according to your countries rules.

Here are the current charges for 2012 Health Services in Portugal;

Consultation with a GP / family doctor - €5,00

Consultation with a nurse at a medical centre - €4,00

Consultation with a nurse in a Hospital - €5,00

Consultation with a Specialist/Consultant at hospital - €7,50

Consultation at the patient’s home - €10,00

Multiple emergency in a hospital - €20,00

Medical - Surgical emergency - €17,50

Basic emergency - €15,00

Consultation at a SAP service - €10,00

As well as the consultations, the costs of supplementary diagnosis have also gone up, such as blood test, scans, x-rays. The Government has set a ceiling of 50 euros for these.

All Health Service facilities must now have Multibanco facilities, if you are unable to pay at the time you will have 10 days to complete the payment.

Exemption of Fees

The following categories are exempt from payments;

Pregnent Women
Children up to 12 years old
Users with more than 60% incapacity
Low Incomes
Health Service blood donors
Living organ and tissue donors
Bombeiros
Transplant Patients
Ex Military personal who are disabled in service