Twenty Ukrainian refugees were issued Icelandic health insurance yesterday. They now qualify for full benefits in the event of necessary healthcare service.
Processing to be expedited
Following the mass exodus after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Icelandic Health Insurance (IHI) announced that it would prioritise the issuing of social insurance for refugees. On Wednesday, IHI received documents necessary to issue health insurance to the first twenty refugees to arrive in Iceland. The registration was completed on the same day.
“The reception of refugees is a big task for our society and for the healthcare system in particular. We’ve endeavoured to ensure the speedy processing of documents to grant this vulnerable group immediate access to healthcare service; many of these people urgently require different services,” María Heimisdóttir, Director of Icelandic Health Insurance, wrote in a statement on IHI’s website.
The statement also notes that refugees, like all people in Iceland, always have access to emergency services, regardless of whether or not health insurance has been issued.
Millions of refugees since the invasion began
Icelandic Health Insurance will also participate in the reception of refugees at the new receiving station at Domus Medica in downtown Reykjavík. IHI will have a representative on hand to provide information regarding aid equipment, drug rebate cards, healthcare premiums, etc.
As noted in its statement, the IHI has – from the time that it was clear that Iceland would be receiving Ukrainian refugees – collaborated with health insurance providers from other European countries to ensure that these individuals have access to health insurance: a complicated task, given that millions of people have fled Ukraine over the past month since the war began.
“This collaboration will continue; most refugees intend to return to their homeland as soon as the war is over,” the statement from IHI reads.
