Portugal
The Portuguese Constitution enshrines the right to health as a fundamental right. Article 64 of the Constitution states that everyone has the right to health, through a national, universal and general health service that tends to be free of charge. This right is concretized in Law no. 95/2019 of 4 September, which approves the Basic Law on Health. Citizens who are nationals of member states of the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland, third country nationals or stateless persons have the right to health care. These beneficiaries enjoy access to health care under conditions of reciprocity, determining that foreign citizens who hold a residence permit issued by the Foreigners and Borders Service can access the SNS on an equal footing with other national citizens. When citizens are in national territory, with their situation regularized, they should proceed to obtain their user number. This request is made at the Health Centre in the area of residence, having to present the residence permit issued by SEF.
It should be noted that the LBS states in Basis 21, no. 2, that "Citizens who are nationals of Member States of the European Union or equivalent, third country nationals or stateless persons, applicants for international protection and migrants, with or without their situation legalised under the terms of the applicable legal regime, are also beneficiaries of the SNS, with permanent residence or in a situation of temporary stay or residence in Portugal". Thus, even if the citizen remains in national territory without his/her situation regularized, he/she can go to a Health Centre or Hospital Unit, in case of emergency. They will have to present a residence certificate (issued by the Parish Council) which must state that they have been in Portugal for over ninety days. In this situation, this citizen may be required to pay for the care received, taking into account his/her economic conditions, under the same terms recognised to nationals. This requirement ceases to apply in situations such as urgent health care, vaccination, assistance to minors, family reunification, social exclusion or economic need.
Applicants for international protection, such as asylum seekers and refugees, are also beneficiaries of the right to health. This prerogative is stipulated in article 52, of Law no. 27/2008, of 30th June. For this the citizen/citizen must be the bearer of a declaration proving international protection.
In their application, the previous provisions are not always clear. The Health Regulatory Authority had the need to issue the informative note no. 12/DQS/DMD/07.05.09 due to the doubts raised by the framework in the right of access to health of immigrant citizens. The action confirms the testimonies of the women interviewed who reported the slowness, the difficulty of access and the bureaucratic procedures. These difficulties can be mitigated through referral to the health services by Higher Education Institutions (in the case of international students, mainly from third countries) and by the different CLAIMs.
To illustrate the difficulties of access to health services and the strategies used to overcome them we propose the analysis of the success story "Preparation and information lead to integration" available in https://viw.pixel-online.org/case_view.php?id=Mzc=.
References
Manual de Acolhimento no Acesso ao Sistema de Saúde de Cidadãos Estrangeiros. [Handbook of Reception in Access to the Health System for Foreign Citizens.]
https://www.sns.gov.pt/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/CHLeiria_CidadaosEstrangeiros_ManualAcolhimento.pdf
The general objective of the Manual is to provide guidelines that ensure the identification and procedures necessary for the registration and access of foreign citizens to the Portuguese health system.
Acesso de imigrantes à prestação de cuidados de saúde no Serviço Nacional de Saúde [Immigrants\' access to health care in the National Health Service]
https://www.ers.pt/pt/utentes/perguntas-frequentes/faq/acesso-de-imigrantes-a-prestacao-de-cuidados-de-saude-no-servico-nacional-de-saude/#
Page of the Health Regulatory Entity that provides information on the rights to health and the conditions for the use of health services by third-country nationals covered by a bilateral agreement, by immigrant citizens who are in a regular or irregular situation in Portugal and for citizens with refugee status or asylum rights.