Last updated: 22 May 2014
HOW TO OBTAIN A NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE CARD
The Romanian National Health Insurance Card (hereinafter referred to as the "CNS"), the equivalent of the French "Carte Vitale", should have been used in Romania since 2011. Nevertheless, so far the authorities did not succeed in setting up the operating system for such a card.
In fact, it is only this month that Government Decision no. 366/2014 entered into force. This Decision sets forth the rules for the distribution of National Health
Insurance Cards... Hereinafter you can find a brief reminder of several elements:
WHAT IS THE CNS?
The CNS certifies the fact that its holder (who has to be at least 18 years old) is insured within the Romanian healthcare insurance system and thus can benefit from medical services on Romanian territory. Reminder: when a Romanian citizen is travelling abroad, he/she has to obtain the European Health Insurance Card, in
order to be covered during his/her travels. For further information, please visit the CNAS website
As regards the CNS, the basic information comprised therein is the following:
- The identification data of the insured person, including his/her personal identification number (the Romanian CNP);
- An identification code in the social health insurance system;
- An identification number of the national health insurance card
The introduction of this card should have at least two major benefits:
- less red tape because this card shall allow its beneficiary to prove on site that he/she is insured and
- an increase in the quality of medical services.
For now, the legal texts do not provide further details regarding the practical use of this card.
CNS DISTRIBUTION
As we have already mentioned, CNS shall be distributed to insured persons of at least 18 years old. As an exception, the distribution of these cards has begun in May 2014 for certain patient categories.
The National Health Insurance Fund shall transfer the CNS to the health insurance funds in the 41 counties and in Bucharest. These funds shall subsequently deliver the cards by post.
Given that the CNS shall be distributed by post with acknowledgement of receipt, recipients must be present at their domicile in order to receive their CNS or, should they fail to do so, they have to go to the post office and pick them up. If the card cannot be personally delivered to its holder, it shall return to the county health insurance fund. Afterwards, the CNS can be picked up personally by the insured person directly at the institution’s headquarters. Should he/she fail to do so, the unrecovered CNS shall be archived in accordance with the law.
If his/her CNS is lost/stolen, the beneficiary may obtain a duplicate, but it has to pay for its production and distribution, except the case when the card has to be replaced because of a technical malfunction.