Are you planning an expatriation to Belgium? Make sure you take out expatriate health insurance for you and your family. In this way, you can avoid potential financial, health and legal complications in the event of an unexpected accident. We therefore advise you to look for policies that cover repatriation, hospitalization, civil liability and other emergency medical expenses. Mondassur can help you take out health insurance in Belgium!
- Political system: Parliamentary Monarchy
- Capital : Brussels
- Surface area : 30,528 km²
- Population : 11.7 million
- Languages spoken: French, Dutch, German
- Currency : Euro
Health care and local insurance in Belgium
The Belgian healthcare system is therefore based on a social insurance system. It is financed by social contributions which vary according to the income level of the insured. Access to healthcare in Belgium is independent and liberal. This means that patients are free to choose their healthcare provider and the establishment where they wish to be treated.
Payment is mainly on a fee-for-service basis. The first line of service therefore includes care provided by GPs, nurses, physiotherapists, family planning and mental health services. The second and third lines include specialists, emergency services and hospital care. This enables you to assess the level of care you may need, depending on the seriousness of the patient’s situation.
In Belgium, theInstitut National d’Assurance Maladie Invalidité (INAMI) supervises, organizes and controls compulsory health insurance. INAMI works in partnership with mutual insurance companies, healthcare providers, trade union representatives and employers. You can therefore take out compulsory health insurance with 7 mutual insurers. Each mutual insurer offers the same compulsory health insurance. However, they also offer different supplementary insurances.
What benefits are covered by compulsory health insurance in Belgium?
- hospital care ;
- visits to a general practitioner or specialist (including home visits) ;
- Hospital and home care by nurses ;
- Dental consultations ;
- Physiotherapy sessions ;
- Maternity ;
- Treatments for the elderly in nursing homes ;
- The rehabilitation department ;
- Medication.
How can I consult a general practitioner or specialist in Belgium ?
The Belgian healthcare system is very liberal, so you’re free to choose the general practitioner you want to see. You can also contact the French embassy in Belgium, which can recommend a doctor based on your location. To consult a GP, you can make an appointment for a consultation. You can then go to the doctor’s surgery at the scheduled times for walk-in consultations. You can find GPs in the Golden Pages directory or on the Internet, for example. Finally, if you need to see a doctor outside consultation hours, almost every region in Belgium has an on-call doctor who can see you. As soon as you see a GP for the first time, don’t forget to open a Global Medical File, which will enable you to keep all your consultation information in a single file.
To consult a specialist, you can ask your family doctor to refer you to a specialist who can meet your medical needs, or to a hospital. You can also consult a specialist on your own initiative. However, the cost of the consultation will be higher. You should expect to pay around €23 for a general practitioner in Belgium.
Pharmacies in Belgium
Once you’ve consulted your GP, he or she will prescribe any necessary prescription drugs, which you can then pick up at the pharmacy. Most medicines can be obtained with a prescription only.
On-call pharmacies are open after 11pm. To find out where they are and how to get there, call 09 03 99 000 (chargeable number). This service, organized by the Belgian Pharmaceutical Association, will provide you with the address of your nearest on-call pharmacy.
How can I consult a dentist in Belgium ?
Unlike in many countries, compulsory health insurance only partially covers your dental care in Belgium. It reimburses the full cost of basic dental care for children under 18. These basic examinations are :
- Oral examination ;
- Descaling ;
- Toothfilling or restoration ;
- Root canal treatment ;
- Extractions.
You’ll need to see your dentist at least once a year to qualify for reimbursement. For orthodontic treatment, you’ll need to submit a medical request to your mutual insurance company before the age of 15.
However, compulsory insurance only partially covers dental care. It is therefore strongly recommended that you take out local or international supplementary insurance to be reimbursed at better rates. The cost of a standard consultation with a dentist in Belgium is around €27.
The emergency department in Belgium
The emergency number in Belgium is 112, which will connect you to an emergency medical service. If you need an ambulance to take you back to hospital, you will have to pay transport costs, which may or may not be covered by your insurance.
Compulsory Belgian insurance will reimburse you up to 50% of the above legal rates. Hospital emergency services are open 24 hours a day.
Hospitals in Belgium
There are two types of hospital in Belgium: public hospitals and private clinics. These two categories include :
- General hospitals: these include general internal medicine and surgery departments. There is also a pediatric ward and a maternity ward.
- University hospitals: they offer services equivalent to those of general hospitals, as well as highly specialized treatments.
- Specialists: they offer specialized care for a specific health sector.
- Psychiatrists: they provide treatment for patients with severe mental disorders.
A one-night hospital stay for standard medical care costs an average of €1,350. Surgery costs an average of €1,700. Intensive care costs an average of over €3,000.
To choose a hospital, we recommend you visit the website of the French Consulate in Belgium. Many hospitals throughout Belgium are listed. You can also contact a medical advisor who can recommend a hospital according to the type of care you require.
Medical homes in Belgium and access to paramedical care
Also known as integrated health centers, these centers bring together health professionals such as general practitioners, physiotherapists, nurses, psychologists, etc. You can pay for these medical centers in the form of a lump-sum payment agreed in advance between your mutual insurance company, the INAMI, the medical center and you. Payment can also be made on a fee-for-service basis, depending on the medical center.
Generally speaking, these medical centers apply a lump-sum payment which the INAMI, the mutual insurance companies and the medical center regulate and accredit. The mutual insurance company pays a lump sum to the medical center for its policyholder. The policyholder can then benefit from reimbursed care when he or she visits the medical center for treatment. However, if they receive care from a healthcare provider outside the medical center, they will not be reimbursed.
Examples of average paramedical care costs in Belgium
- Session with a physiotherapist (30 min): €22
- Podiatrist session (45 min): €31
- Consultation with a dietician (30 min): €20
- Visit to a dermatologist: €34
- ENT : €27
Maternity in Belgium
It’s important to start prenatal care as early as possible, so that you can identify the onset of pregnancy. This is a crucial step, as it will determine which examinations should be carried out at specific points during the pregnancy. What’s more, it’s vital for your entitlement to childbirth allowance, pre- and postnatal leave, and job protection under your health insurance scheme.
You can also take part in birth preparation courses offered by independent midwives in maternity hospitals from the 7th month onwards. However, for courses in private practice, you may be asked to pay extra.
To choose the right place for your delivery, we advise you to start planning from the 6th month of pregnancy. In Belgium, all hospitals are of a high standard, but the differences lie in the way you give birth. All maternity hospitals offer epidural delivery. On average, you will stay in hospital for 3 to 5 days after delivery.
Average cost of childbirth
- vaginal delivery: €3,500
- Cesarean delivery: €5,000
- Obstetrical ultrasound: €18 to €47
The pediatric service in Belgium
In Belgium, the pediatric service is developing extremely well, and is at the cutting edge of technology. What’s more, it offers specialized care for children’s medical and surgical needs. Many hospitals have a department dedicated to pediatrics. The Queen Fabiola University Children’s Hospital is a university hospital entirely dedicated to pediatric services. A session with a pediatrician costs around €40.
Health networks in Belgium
In Belgium, healthcare networks operate differently from traditional healthcare networks. They do not offer discounted rates between providers in the same network. Joining a healthcare network in Belgium means sharing medical information on a healthcare network portal bringing together healthcare providers and patients. The aim of this network is to give doctors faster access to the medical history of the patients they are going to consult, giving them a global view of the patient’s health and enabling them to gain in efficiency and time.
The Belgian “carte vitale
The SIS (Système d’Information Sociale) card is the equivalent of the Carte Vitale in France or the Carte Soleil in Canada. It enables you to justify your social security entitlements to healthcare providers. However, if you apply for your SIS card now, you will receive it in electronic format. The card also means that insured persons’ medical files can be processed more quickly, and so reimbursements can be made more quickly too.
A frontier worker who is not resident in Belgium can apply for an “isi+” card from the Caisse Auxiliaire d’Assurance Maladie-Invalidité to be insured in Belgium.
Vaccines in Belgium
When you arrive in Belgium, the only vaccination requirement is for polio, which is free for under-18s.
There are a number of vaccinations recommended in Belgium for children under the age of 18. Don’t hesitate to have your children vaccinated against all the recommended viruses:
- Tetanus ;
- Rubella ;
- Diphtheria ;
- Measles ;
- Whooping cough;
- Pneumococcus ;
- Meningococcus C;
- Rotavirus infections;
- Mumps and hepatitis B;
- Diseases caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b.
Vaccinations are only partially reimbursed, or not reimbursed at all, by compulsory Belgian insurance. However, many supplementary insurers will cover the cost of vaccinations for recommended vaccines.
Prices of certain vaccines :
- Yellow fever: 20 euros
- Typhoid: 22 to 30 euros
- Hepatitis A : 40 to 45 euros
- Hepatitis A and B: 55 euros
Why and what international health insurance should I take out in Belgium?
Your nationality, and the length and purpose of your stay in Belgium, will determine whether you need to take out private health insurance in Belgium.
If you are staying in Belgium for more than 90 days, you will need to take out health insurance: either private international health insurance, or compulsory Belgian insurance supplemented by a Belgian mutuelle or international health insurance.
If you are a citizen of the European Union and are joining a Belgian company, you can take out Belgian health insurance without being obliged to take out private insurance. However, we strongly advise you to take out a mutual insurance policy.
For non-EU citizens, you must take out long-stay visa insurance to obtain your visa. If you are coming to Belgium for less than 90 days, you must take out Schengen visa insurance. We offer international private health insurance plans such as GoldStart and EuropAccess, which are perfectly suited to this type of situation.
If you’re a nomadic worker, or if you just want to stay temporarily in Belgium but don’t want to be affiliated to a Belgian health insurance scheme, our private international health insurance plans are fully adapted to your situation. They will enable you to reside in Belgium and be insured both locally and internationally, whatever the duration of your stay.
What health insurance should I take out for a student in Belgium?
Every year, Belgium attracts around 40,000 foreign students to its schools and universities, particularly for medicine, engineering and psychology. What’s more, tuition fees are very low and student accommodation is affordable. The country has one of the most efficient healthcare systems in the world, which means that the cost of access to healthcare is high. There are two reasons why you should take out additional private health insurance:
- Initially, a private insurance company will cover all your healthcare costs until you are registered with a Belgian mutual insurance company.
- Secondly, this private insurance will cover you for healthcare costs that your mutual insurance company does not cover, which is essential as Belgian mutual insurance companies only cover basic healthcare.
Mondassur offers you GoldStudent health insurance, perfectly adapted to your student situation.
Visas Belgium
For European Union citizens, a simple identity card is all you need. European Community nationals enjoy freedom of movement. These nationals benefit from the right of residence, but must register with the municipal administration of their place of residence within eight working days of entering the Kingdom. For longer stays, you need to apply for a temporary residence permit. In the case of long-term expatriation, you must then apply for a five-year renewable residence permit, which the authorities will issue on proof of sufficient income. Within the EEA, you can work in a country other than your own without needing a work visa.
French Embassy in Brussels
65 rue Ducale
1000 Brussels
Tel: 32 548 87 00
Fax: 32 548 87 32
E-mail: ambafr@ambafrance-be.org
Embassy of Belgium in Paris
9, rue de Tilsitt – 75840 Paris Cedex 17
Tél: 01.44.09.39.39
Fax : 01.47.54.07.64
E-mail : paris@diplobel.org
