In Belgium, individuals must be affiliated with a public health insurance fund to benefit from the following:

• Reimbursement of health expenses + replacement salary (illness, disability, maternity and paternity leave)
• Amounts & Criteria set by INAMI (Institut national d'assurance maladie-invalidité) / RIZIV (Rijksinstitut voor Ziekte en Invaliditeitsverzekering)

These are the services and benefits that are specific to each public health insurance fund and also the part to which you contribute.

In both situations below, you are obliged to be submitted to Belgium Social Security...

• You are an employee on the payroll of a Belgian company.
• You are self-employed.

Procedure

• Register to a "Sociaal Secretariaat" such as Partena Professional, Acerta, Attentia, SD Works, Liantis...
• Pay first contribution to social security (€898,30/trimester during the first 3 years)

• You are paying social taxes in another EU country. In this case, a S1 document must be provided to register to a public health insurance company to receive all benefits and reimbursements.
• You are paying social taxes in a country with bilateral conventions such as Albania, Algeria, Boznia-Herzegovina, North-Macedonia, Morocco, Montenegro, Serbia, Tunesia, Turkey, Quebec, UK, Australia. Specific documents must also be presented as proof.

A Global Medical File gathers your medical information and history. This can be asked to your general practitioner. Your general practitioner will be in charge of storing and updating this file. With this file, you might be entitled to higher reimbursement fee.

During flu season, most doctors in Flanders carry out a "patient stop" period which means only recurrent patients are allowed to make appointments, and the available slots are limited. This method is due to the lack of medical personneel in the region. There are a few solutions to this situation:

• Have yourself places on a reserve list. Once there is any spot open, you will be taken into account as a potential patient.
• For urgent matters, you can call the local Guard post.
• Wacht Posten is a website where all on-call practices are listed. Local GPs take turns providing on-call services in the evenings, at night, and on weekends.

For flu vaccines, you can visit a local pharmacy for the injection. 

Without a prescription from a general practitioner, you will pay full amount of €18, and the pharmacy will give you a document to submit to your health insurance company for reimbursement. The injection itself should cost no more than €5.

Private hospitals requrie higher costs than public hospitals, as a result, we usually suggest visiting a public one in case of emergency.

You will be reimbursed for most medical and hospitalization fees according to the rates set by the INAMI / RIZIV. The remaining share will be covered by the patient individually. This fee vary from one hospital to another and from one GP to another.

You can find a GP and make appointment online through Doctena and Doctor Any Time.

While travelling abroad, it is important and helpful to carry your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). This card is used only within the EU and can be ordered directly from your online service desk.

You can also benefit from emergency assistance in the EU from the Mediphone Assist Center, which you can reach 24/7 on +32 2 778 94 94.