Treatment costs will not be covered by the public travel health insurance if it could reasonably be expected that your ailment would require treatment during your trip abroad. This goes for everybody — including those with serious or chronic diseases and ailments. It is up to the SOS doctor to decide whether a treatment need was foreseeable. Thus neither you nor your doctor can make that call. Among other considerations, the SOS doctor bases his assessment on the following criteria:
If your chronic ailment has required hospital treatment and/or changes to your medication within two months prior to your departure, the public travel health insurance will normally not cover treatment costs for this particular preexisting ailment.
Furthermore, costs of treatment for a particular disease or ailment are not normally covered if you prior to departure:
- have been referred to a doctor for assessment or treatment of the disease in question
- have not sought medical assistance from a doctor, or have declined or discontinued treatment of the ailment in question, despite knowing, or being reasonably expected to know, that the ailment would require medical treatment.
- have, under doctor's orders, discontinued treatment, or have been denied treatment for the ailment in question.
- have absented yourself from checkups or follow-up appointments in connection with the disease or ailment in question.
Furthermore, there is no coverage for the following expenses incurred while abroad:
- Costs of control and treatment, or medication, incurred in order to keep a preexisting medical disorder in check.
You should also - regardless of insurance coverage - consider whether it is really a good idea to travel to a destination where your condition might be exacerbated, or where treatment options are of a lower standard than in Denmark.
What do I do if I am already (chronically) ill prior to departure? - advance approval of coverage
If you have a medical condition prior to departure, and have doubts over whether you are covered by the public travel health insurance, you can direct your inquiry to the public travel health insurance at SOS, or to your private insurance company and get your questions cleared up before embarking on your trip. Initially, you can get oral information on coverage and rules, and, if applicable, you may also be given a specific assessment of your situation. Experience shows that this assessment in a number of cases results in a so-called binding advance approval. A binding advance approval is normally given in writing, and means that the ailment in question will be covered by the public travel health insurance or your private travel insurance. In order to obtain a binding advance approval, information from your general practicioner or the doctor who treated you for the ailment in question. The assessment is not based solely on the medical assessment. Things like your destination, and the duration of your trip are also important elements. You will have to pay your doctor for his work, and ask him to send the information on to the public travel health insurance at SOS.
All inquiries regarding traveling with chronic ailments, or ailments that will need treatment, and binding advance approval should be directed to SOS on telephone (+45) 70 10 50 58.
Coverage without advance approval
Acute illness, not related to the chronic or preexisting ailment, is covered by the public travel health insurance. If you have a chronic or preexisting condition, a specific assessment of whether it was reasonably foreseeable that the disease would need treatment during your trip is always made - even if you have no advance approval.
