Healthcare in Norway

In Norway, municipalities are in charge of providing basic healthcare, while specialised healthcare is provided by the state through public hospitals.

Since the money given to municipalities is not set aside for any particular purpose, each municipality is free to determine its own health budget. Municipalities coordinate primary healthcare services through agreements with independent physicians. In Norway, private healthcare providers are not compensated unless they have a contract with the public health service.

All public hospitals in Norway are run as health trusts (helseforetak (HF)) incorporated into one of four regional health authorities (regionale helseforetak (RHF)) overseen by the Ministry of Health and Care Services. In addition to these public hospitals, there are a small number of privately owned health clinics currently operating.