The Health Insurance Fund refers an insured person for treatment outside Montenegro when diagnosis and treatment have been carried out at the Clinical Centre of Montenegro and all options for further treatment in the country are exhausted. The procedure is set by the Rulebook on the method and procedure for referring insured persons for treatment outside Montenegro (Official Gazette 66/2023), which replaced the 2017 rulebook. The request on form O-01 is filed by the patient, a parent, a guardian or a health institution, together with a proposal from a Clinical Centre panel. The referral and the travel certificate are valid for 90 days, and under a Fund decision you must start treatment within 90 days of receiving the decision. The Fund refunds treatment, medicines for up to 30 days after your return, public transport and visa costs, and you submit a report with invoices within 15 days of returning.
This guide explains when the Fund refers patients abroad, how to file the request, who decides and how long an approval is valid, how to get transport and a companion and which costs the Fund refunds.
When does the Fund refer you for treatment abroad?
- Diagnosis and treatment have been carried out at the Clinical Centre, and all options for further treatment in Montenegro are exhausted.
- The Clinical Centre has taken every step to prepare the patient for continued treatment, and transport can be organised without risk to the patient's life.
- There is a chance of a successful outcome in a suitable institution abroad.
- The proposed treatment will significantly prolong life and improve its quality.
- The treatment is scientifically proven, accepted in medical practice and not experimental.
- Under the rulebook, treatment abroad covers examinations, diagnostics, outpatient and hospital treatment, follow-up checks, searches of international organ and tissue registries, transplants and sending tissue and genetic samples for analysis, if these cannot be provided in the country.
How do you file the request?
- The request on form O-01 is filed by the insured person, a parent, adoptive parent, guardian or other legal representative, or the health institution where the patient was treated.
- When treatment is based on a referral or a form under an international social security agreement, you file the request with a regional unit or branch of the Fund.
- When treatment is based on a referral decision, and for organ and tissue removal and transplant or pre-transplant tests, you file the request with the Fund's head office.
- With the request you submit the proposal of the Clinical Centre panel for treatment abroad, the primary panel proposal of specialist doctors and medical records of earlier treatment. The Clinical Centre has one panel for insured persons up to 18 and another for those over 18.
- The panel first proposes an institution with a contract with the Fund or one in a country with which Montenegro has a social security agreement, and proposes another institution abroad only when the treatment cannot be done there.
- Most of the Fund's contracts are with institutions in Serbia, and its list also includes institutions in Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.
Who decides and how long is an approval valid?
| Referral route | Who gives the findings and opinion | What you receive | Deadline |
| contracted institution, referral or international form | first-instance medical commission of the Fund's regional unit or branch | a referral or bilingual form and a certificate of the need to travel | valid for 90 days from issue |
| other treatment and transplants | Commission for Treatment Abroad at the Fund's head office | a referral decision | treatment starts within 90 days of receipt |
- If you do not start treatment within the deadline, you must start a new procedure.
- The decision sets the country, the town and the institution, the treatment costs and method of payment, the type of transport, the right to a companion and, where needed, the type and length of treatment.
- An extension is requested by the patient or the institution abroad before discharge, with medical reasons, and the same commission decides on it.
- A follow-up check abroad is possible in case of complications, when it cannot be done in Montenegro and when a repeat intervention may be needed.
How do you get transport and a companion?
- The commission sets the train or bus as the means of transport.
- When there is a medically justified reason, a flight in economy class, a flight lying down or an ambulance vehicle can be approved on the panel's proposal.
- Exceptionally, in urgent and medically justified cases, special air transport can be approved with the consent of the Ministry of Health.
- The commission approves a companion for the journey there and back on the panel's proposal, and in medically justified cases an escort by a medical team of two.
- An insured person under 15, or under 18, can also be approved a companion during hospital treatment when this is necessary for successful treatment.
Which costs does the Fund refund?
- The Fund refunds the costs of treatment in the institution abroad, transplants and analysis of tissue and genetic samples.
- The Fund refunds medicines during hospital treatment and medicines until therapy is arranged in Montenegro, for up to 30 days after your return.
- The Fund refunds medical devices and aids during treatment abroad that a doctor of that institution prescribed and you paid for yourself.
- The Fund refunds public transport set at the time of referral, visa costs and the cost of transporting remains.
- Within 15 days of your return you submit a treatment report on form O-06, with the discharge letter, invoices for services and medicines paid for and transport tickets.
- A companion who travels to collect the patient after hospital treatment gets travel costs refunded at the lowest public transport fare.
- After your return you report to the Clinical Centre and hand in the medical records from abroad.
- When this is more practical and economical, the Fund can instead arrange treatment at the Clinical Centre by bringing in a foreign expert or team.
Rehabilitation after treatment is covered in our guide to rehabilitation in Igalo, and choosing the doctor who refers you onwards in our guide to your chosen doctor and eZdravlje. Pay while you cannot work is explained in our guide to sick leave, and who is insured with the Fund at all in our guide to health insurance for foreigners.
Frequently asked questions
Who can get treatment abroad through the Fund? An insured person whose diagnosis and treatment were carried out at the Clinical Centre, whose treatment options in Montenegro are exhausted and who meets the other conditions of the rulebook.
Where do I file the request for treatment abroad? With a regional unit or branch of the Fund when treatment is based on a referral or an international form, and with the Fund's head office when it is based on a decision or is for a transplant.
How long is a referral for treatment abroad valid? The referral and the travel certificate are valid for 90 days from issue, and under a decision you must start treatment within 90 days of receiving it.
Does the Fund pay for a flight? The basic transport is train or bus, and the commission approves an economy flight on the panel's proposal when there is a medically justified reason.
Does the Fund pay for medicines after I return? Yes, the Fund refunds medicines until therapy is arranged in Montenegro, for up to 30 days.
By when must I hand in the invoices? Within 15 days of your return, together with the treatment report, the discharge letter and the invoices.
Sources
The conditions, the request, the panels, the commissions, deadlines, transport, companions and refunds are set by the Rulebook on the method and procedure for referring insured persons for treatment outside Montenegro (Official Gazette of Montenegro 66/2023, Articles 1 to 34), and the institutions abroad that have a contract with the Fund are listed in the Health Insurance Fund's list of contracts. The information was checked on 28 September 2026. Fijaka is a classifieds platform; this text is not medical or legal advice.