Aids and medical device

Aids

The Social Insurance Board is in charge or organising the provision of aids with a state subsidy. You need a certificate from your GP, a specialist doctor or another competent specialist (e.g. physiotherapist, midwife) describing your need for an aid to be able to purchase one. You can then use that certificate to turn to a company dealing with such aids. Subsidised aids can be purchased from a vendor who has a contract with the Social Insurance Board to sell such aids.

People can see the history of their aid transactions, applicable limitations and perform other operations in the self-service environment of the Social Insurance Board. The state subsidises the purchase of aids, but you must also pay a share. The list of aids is approved by a regulation of the minister and the annex to that regulation lists all the aids and the co-payment share for each product.

The following persons are entitled to state-subsidised aids:

• children up to 18 years old
• adults up to the age of eligibility for old-age pension with a degree of disability or reduced capacity for work
• persons eligible for old-age pension
• people who need a breast or eye prosthesis
• persons diagnosed with loss of hearing starting from 30 decibels or more and who need hearing aids

If you want to buy or lease an aid under special terms and conditions (e.g. to reduce the co-payment), you must submit a special procedure request to the Social Insurance Board.

You can read more about aids and the terms and conditions of applying for aids from the website of the Social Insurance Board or the aid guide.

Medical devices

The Estonian Health Insurance Fund compensates persons with health insurance for medical devices used independently at home to treat illnesses or injuries and devices which can be used to prevent the aggravation of an illness. The treating physician determines the need for a medical device.  If a person is diagnosed with an illness whose treatment requires a medical device listed on the Estonian Health Insurance Fund’s list of medical devices, the treating physician draws up a digital medical device card. This card can then be used to turn to a pharmacy or a vendor dealing in medical devices to purchase the prescribed medical device at a discount.

A new and updated list of medical devices entered into force from 2022 alongside amendments to the aid regulation, including a new list of aids. As of January, the Estonian Health Insurance Fund took over the financing of orthoses, foot rests, aids for diverting urine excretion and urine collectors from the Social Insurance Board. From the new year, both GPs and specialist doctors will be able to prescribe these medical devices with a digital medical device card to people who meet the terms and conditions set out in the list of medical devices. Compensation is not dependent on having a disability or reduced capacity for work.

Visit the website of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund for more information on medical devices and the terms and conditions of compensation.