Information for foreign patients

GZA Ziekenhuizen has an agreement with the Dutch health insurance company ASR.  If you are insured with ASR, please bring the following documents:

• proof of identity
• insurance card from your health insurance company
• letter of referral

If you are insured with a different health insurance company, please bring the following documents:

• proof of identity
• insurance card from your health insurance company
• letter of guarantee from your health insurance company or S2 form

• proof of identity
• insurance card from your health insurance
• letter of guarantee from your health insurance or S2 form

• A valid identity document
• A guarantee certificate

• proof of identity
• letter of guarantee from the EU for your hospital admission

• proof of identity
• European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) if you are insured in an EU member state, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein or Australia
• another letter of guarantee if you are not insured in any of the above-mentioned countries

• proof of identity
• letter of guarantee from your health insurance

• proof of identity
• letter of guarantee from the OCMW (Public Centre for Social Welfare), the Red Cross, Fedasil or another competent authority.

You are insured with ASR.

• GZA Ziekenhuizen has an agreement with ASR. If you are insured with ASR, the invoice for care covered by this agreement will be sent directly to your health insurance company. Sometimes the care package will be invoiced directly in its entirety, sometimes only specific treatments.
• The hospital costs will be settled directly with your health insurance company if the conditions included in the agreement have been met.
• Any invoices that you receive must be paid by you.  It may be possible to apply afterwards for (a part of) the costs to be reimbursed by your health insurance company.

You are insured with a different Dutch health insurance company

• Before treatment, request a letter of guarantee or an S2 form from your health insurance company. If you do not have this document, you will have to pay for all costs beforehand.
• The costs will be settled directly with your health insurance company if this is mentioned explicitly in the letter of guarantee.
• With an S2 form (planned admission) or a European Health Insurance Card (in case of emergency care), the costs will be settled directly with a Belgian health insurance fund. You will have to make an advance payment.
• You will receive an invoice at your home address for the amount you will have to pay for yourself.  It may be possible to apply afterwards for (a part of) the costs to be reimbursed by your health insurance company.
• If you are unable to present the requested documents, you will be asked to make an advance payment covering the costs.

• Before treatment, request an S2 form from your health insurance.
• With an S2 form (planned admission) or a European Health Insurance Card (in case of emergency care), the costs will be settled directly with a Belgian health insurance fund. You may have to make an advance payment for the part not reimbursed by the Belgian health insurance fund.
• You will receive an invoice at your home address for the amount you will have to pay for yourself.  It may be possible to apply afterwards for (a part of) the costs to be reimbursed by your health insurance company.
• If you are unable to present an S2 form or you only have a letter of guarantee, you will be asked to make an advance payment covering the costs.

• You present the guarantee certificate when you are admitted. The certificate must meet the following criteria:
  • It is addressed to the hospital where the operation will take place
  • It covers the correct duration/period of the operation
  • It is written in Dutch, French, German or English
  • It guarantees cover of 100% of the costs (expressed as a percentage, not an amount)
  • It specifies an invoicing address to which the invoice may be sent by post (not by email)
• Even if you present a valid guarantee certificate, you are still responsible for paying the invoice yourself. Reminders will be sent to you as the patient, not to the invoicing address. It is up to you to contact your private insurer and inform them of the payment of the invoice.
• The costs will be settled with the private insurer directly. Any invoices sent out after the operation must be paid by the patient themselves. Once they have been paid, some or all of the costs may be able to be recouped from the private insurer.
• When you are discharged, you will receive a referral letter. If additional medical information is required, you can request this yourself from the treating doctor. For privacy reasons (GDPR), our administrative services do not have access to this information. This applies even if you give informed consent.
• If you cannot provide a guarantee declaration for a complete coverage of the total cost, we will ask you to pay an advance payment to cover the costs. 

Before treatment, request a letter of guarantee from your employer. This letter of guarantee will enable the costs to be settled directly with your insurance.

If you are unable to present the requested documents, you will be asked to make an advance payment covering the costs.

If you are a student from an EU member state, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein or Australia and you have a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), the costs will be settled directly with a Belgian Health Insurance Fund. You will have to make an advance payment.

If you are not insured in any of the above-mentioned countries, you will need a letter of guarantee.  Without this letter, you will have to pay beforehand for all treatment costs.

Request a letter of guarantee from your private health insurance before treatment. If you are unable to present this document, you will have to pay beforehand for all costs.

The costs will be settled directly with your health insurance company if this is mentioned explicitly in the letter of guarantee.

Any invoices that you may receive afterwards must be paid by you.  It may be possible to apply afterwards for (a part of) the costs to be reimbursed by your health insurance company.

If you have proof of identity and a payment obligation from a competent authority, GZA Ziekenhuizen will settle directly with this authority, e.g. the OCMW (Public Centre for Social Welfare), the Red Cross or Fedasil.