Health Care in Latvia (valsts apmaksātā veselības aprūpe)
Latvia has a state-funded health system organised by the National Health Service (Nacionālais veselības dienests, NVD). The NVD contracts family doctors, clinics and hospitals; you pay only a small patient fee for most state-funded services. Under the Health Care Financing Law, everyone has the right to emergency care. The full range of services comes through state mandatory health insurance (valsts obligātā veselības apdrošināšana).
Who is covered
- Emergency care: everyone.
- Basic minimum (emergency care, childbirth, family-doctor care and treatment of certain public-health diseases): citizens, Latvian non-citizens, foreigners with a permanent residence permit, refugees and people with alternative status.
- Full state health insurance: people who pay social insurance contributions as employees or self-employed, and, among residents in the groups above, children under 18, full-time students, registered unemployed people, pensioners, people with a disability, one parent of a child under 7 (or of at least three children under 15), and people receiving the childcare or parental benefit. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens working in Latvia, and their family members, are also covered.
- The law also provides for a yearly health insurance contribution of 5% of 12 times the minimum monthly wage for residents outside these groups. For 2018–2026 it does not have to be paid: you keep full cover anyway.
Family doctor and referrals
- Register with a family doctor (ģimenes ārsts). Planned care is given within 5 working days of booking. Evenings, nights and weekends: the family doctor advice line 66016001 or a doctor on duty.
- Referrals: for a state-funded specialist visit or test, you normally need a referral from your family doctor (some specialists can also refer you). Only a specialist can refer you for a state-funded MRI. A doctor seen as a paid private patient cannot issue a referral for state-funded care.
Patient fees (pacienta līdzmaksājums)
Fees under Cabinet Regulation No. 555 (NVD page updated 2025):
- family-doctor visit: €2, or €1 from age 65; specialist visit: €4
- hospital stay: €10 a day from the second day; day hospital: €7 a day
- CT scan: €14 (€21 with contrast); MRI: €28 (€35 with contrast)
- caps: €355 per hospital stay and €570 per calendar year
- no fees for children under 18, for pregnancy and post-natal care, for people officially recognised as poor, or for people with a group I disability, among others
Sick pay
If you are ill and employed, your employer pays days 2–3 at least 75% and days 4–9 at least 80% of your average earnings. From day 10 the VSAA sickness benefit pays 80% of your average insured earnings, for up to 26 weeks (52 weeks with a medical commission opinion).
Common pitfalls for newcomers
- With a temporary residence permit you are not in the basic-minimum groups. You have full cover only while you pay contributions (or as the under-18 child of an employed person), so check your private insurance.
- Paid private visits do not count: the referral and the fee cap work only inside the state-funded system.
- Keep your receipts. Fees count towards the €570 yearly cap, and many medical and dental costs are also deductible in your annual income tax return.
Official guidance: NVD: patient fees, NVD: family doctor, NVD: outpatient services, Health Care Financing Law, VSAA: sickness benefit