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Exemption card and co-payments: how to avoid paying more than the ceiling

Draft, translated: translated from the Norwegian original with the help of a language model, and may contain errors. The Norwegian version is the authoritative one. See the Norwegian original →

When you have paid more than NOK 3,278 in co-payments in 2026, you get an exemption card (frikort) automatically. What counts, what does not, and that everyone under 18 is now exempt.

Norwegian original last checked against official sources: 14 October 2026. Rules and figures change, so always check the official site before you act.

At your GP, with a psychologist or at the hospital, you pay a co-payment (egenandel). The same applies to medicines on blue prescription. Co-payments have a yearly ceiling. When you have paid more than the ceiling, you get an exemption card (frikort), and do not pay further approved co-payments for the rest of the year.

The ceiling in 2026

According to Helsenorge, you get an exemption card when you have paid more than NOK 3,278 in approved co-payments in 2026. The card is valid for the rest of the calendar year, and then the count starts again.

You do not need to apply

Co-payments are registered automatically by the health service.
The exemption card comes automatically, within three weeks after you have paid more than the ceiling.
If you paid more than the ceiling before the card came, you get the money back automatically.
You can see your co-payments and exemption card by logging in to Helsenorge (Mine egenandeler). There you can also change the account number for payments.

Many health services check the exemption card digitally. If yours does not, you must show the card to avoid paying.

What counts

According to Helsenorge, approved co-payments count with, among others:

doctors,
psychologists,
hospitals and outpatient clinics,
laboratories and X-ray,
physiotherapists,
rehabilitation institutions,
medicines, nutritional products and medical supplies on blue prescription,
travel to and from treatment (apply via patient travel),
dental treatment, but only for certain conditions, such as diseases and malformations of the mouth and jaw and treatment of gum disease (periodontitis).

What does not count

Things that are not approved co-payments, for example health certificates, printouts of your medical record, seasonal flu vaccine and supplies such as bandages. With private health workers without an agreement with the public system, you pay everything yourself, and it does not count. At the dentist, you pay the difference between what the dentist charges and what National Insurance covers, even if you have an exemption card.

Children and young people

According to Helsenorge, everyone under 18 is exempt from co-payments from 1 August 2026. Before that, the exemption applied under 16.

Others who do not pay co-payments

Some groups do not pay co-payments for certain services, for example people with an approved decision on occupational injury, and some people on minimum pension for medicines on blue prescription. See also blue prescription.

Tip: Check Mine egenandeler on Helsenorge now and then. If you have opted out of automatic registration, you must send the receipts to Helfo yourself. You can ask questions to Veiledning Helsenorge on 23 32 70 00.

Sources

Kontaktpunkt24 gives general information, not legal advice. If you need help with your own case, contact a lawyer, a legal aid service, or the relevant authority.

This page is translated from Norwegian with the help of a language model, and may contain errors. The Norwegian version is always the authoritative one.