Sickness
Health care
On the Faroe Islands it is necessary to belong to a health insurance fund to receive public medical treatment. Everybody above the age of 18 pays subscriptions to be a member of the health insurance fund.
Membership is a statutory requirement for everybody who is a resident on the Faroe Islands. A person who moves from the Faroe Islands must notify the local authority of the move. Membership of the health insurance fund is then automatic. If you plan to work on the Faroe Islands and you do not have somewhere to live there, you are requested to contact the Faroese social insurance agency (Almannastovan) for more detailed information on health insurance and social insurance as a whole.
The health insurance funds’ activities include payment for medical treatment such as special medical treatment, dental treatment, physiurgic and chiropractor treatment, supplement for medicine, spectacles, bandages and transport plus funeral benefit.
On the Faroe Islands public medical treatment is provided by doctors in private practice who are referred to as local medical officers. The task of the local medical officers is to provide general medical treatment as well as statutory duties such as vaccinations and medical examinations of children and those who are pregnant.
Medical treatment and home-help referrals are free of charge.
On the Faroe Islands, those who are pregnant and small children are offered public and free health care. Free school health care is also provided. Free preventive examinations are also provided for expectant mothers by doctors and midwives as well as support during the actual birth.
In some cases it is possible to receive a supplement for transport costs in connection with sickness.
If a person’s expenditure on medicine exceeds a certain amount, a supplement for medicine is granted to persons who are disabled or have a long-term weakness as a consequence of age.
On the Faroe Islands there are dentists in private practice including specialist dentists. Dental treatment for children below the age of 16 is free. Others receive a supplement for dental treatment charges.
A stay in hospital on the Faroe Islands is free of charge.
For more information on health care benefits contact Landsforeningen for sygekasser:Meginfelag Sjukrakassa Føroya.