Algarve MP Cristóvão Norte has co-authored a proposal setting out who should cover healthcare costs for non-resident foreign nationals using Portugal’s National Health Service.

Cristóvão Norte, Algarve’s MP, has co-authored a bill relating to payment for healthcare provided to non-resident foreign nationals, Algarve Daily News reports.

The Bill 786/XVII/2, which was submitted to Portugal’s Assembly of the Republic, proposes that people who are in Portugal irregularly, or who are not resident in the country, should pay for healthcare received through the National Health Service, or provide proof of cover from a legally or contractually liable entity.

Millions in unpaid bills

An audit by the Health Activities Inspectorate-General (IGAS) has found 1,234,358 euros in bills that were issued but left unpaid for emergency care provided to non-resident foreigners in 2023 and 2024, representing a 7.8 percent increase from 17,736 in 2023 to 19,111 in 2024.

Emergency care protected

The bill protects the provision of emergency, urgent and life-saving care, where, in such cases, proof of cover and other required documentation may be submitted after treatment has been provided.

The proposal establishes ways to identify the party who is responsible for payment and recover the costs, and in certain cases, it also allows for a guarantee, advance payment, or other form of insurance to ensure that the costs are recovered.

“Anyone who needs emergency, urgent or life-saving care must be treated. That is not in question. But providing the necessary healthcare is one thing; determining who should bear the financial cost of that care, and ensuring that the bill is actually paid, is another,” Norte said.

“In the Algarve, more than 1.2 million euros in unpaid bills show that this is not an abstract debate. We are a tourist region, open to the world and welcoming millions of visitors. Precisely for that reason, we need clear rules and effective mechanisms: to treat those who need care and ensure that the bill is paid by whoever is responsible for it,” he added.

Covering the cost of care

Norte emphasised that the bill does not mean that patients themselves would have to always pay directly, as responsibility for covering the cost of care could also lie with an insurer, another state, or another legally or contractually liable entity.

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