Parliament Votes Friday on Three Bills to Make Non-Resident Foreigners Pay for SNS Care, and One to Scrap User Charges for Everyone
PSD and CDS-PP would drop undocumented migrants from the list of SNS beneficiaries; Chega would also make non-EU visitors and pending asylum seekers pay. Emergency care would still be given first. Legal residents keep their access under every bill.
Parliament votes on Friday 16 October on three bills that would make foreign non-residents pay for care in the Serviço Nacional de Saúde (SNS, the national health service), along with a Bloco de Esquerda (BE) bill to abolish user charges for everyone. All four appear on the Assembleia da República's voting list for the day as first-reading votes, after Thursday's debate, alongside three non-binding resolutions from the PS, Iniciativa Liberal (IL) and Livre.
What the main bill changes
The governing PSD and CDS-PP have tabled Projeto de Lei n.º 786/XVII, which rewrites Base 21 of the Lei de Bases da Saúde (the 2019 Health Framework Law). Today that article lists, among SNS beneficiaries, foreigners living here permanently or temporarily and "migrants with or without their situation legalised". The bill removes that last phrase. Beneficiaries would be foreigners "in a situation of regular stay", or on a temporary stay or residence, including EU citizens, other nationals, stateless people and asylum seekers.
Anyone in Portugal irregularly, and non-residents not covered, would have to pay for their care or show proof of cover, such as insurance, plus identification. The exception is emergency, urgent and life-saving care, which would be given first, with the paperwork shown afterwards. A further law would set how charges are collected, including deposits or advance payment. It revives a 2024 bill that the authors say passed its first reading with AD and Chega votes before lapsing when the last legislature ended early.
The authors cite an inspectorate (IGAS) report finding that about 330,000 non-resident foreigners were seen in SNS emergency departments between 2021 and September 2024, more than 140,000 of them with no insurance or international agreement covering the treatment. We covered that IGAS survey last month.
Chega's two bills go further
Chega's Projeto de Lei n.º 638/XVII says non-EU nationals who are not resident are not beneficiaries and may use the SNS only by paying, apart from medical emergencies. It also names asylum seekers whose claim has not yet been granted among those who would pay. Its Projeto de Lei n.º 637/XVII targets the taxas moderadoras (user charges), now charged only for hospital emergency visits and waived after an SNS referral or an admission. It would limit the exemption for pregnant women to legal residents and have non-resident non-EU nationals pay at discharge, with no waiver for referral or admission.
The other proposals, and the debate
The BE bill would abolish user charges altogether. The PS resolution asks the government for a survey of non-residents' use of the SNS and a report within 90 days. IL's asks for non-emergency care to be charged before it is given. Livre's asks for clear national guidance on immigrants' access, covering pregnant women, under-18s and emergencies, and for people whose papers are being renewed to be able to register with a health centre.
In Thursday's debate, ECO reported, Chega's Marta Silva put the potential gain at 15 million euros a year, citing estimates "from credible sources". Livre and BE replied that this equals 0.08 percent of the health budget. PSD's Alberto Machado said the joint bill takes no rights from immigrants living here legally; PS's Mariana Vieira da Silva said current law already makes non-residents pay.
What it means for you
If you hold a valid residence permit, none of the bills takes away your SNS access. The changes fall on visitors without cover and on people in Portugal without legal status. Bills that pass today still face detailed committee work and a final vote. Our earlier report has more on the PSD and CDS-PP bill.
