Healthcare in Greece: EOPYY, the co-payment and the distance that is invisible on holiday
With an S1 from the CAK you join EOPYY, the Greek health fund, with an EU-AMKA. You get it at a KEP or e-EFKA, with your S1. After that you pay a contribution per prescription, and something counts that you never notice as a tourist: how far away the nearest hospital is.
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In Greece you enter public healthcare through EOPYY, the national health fund. How you get in depends on your situation:
- With a Dutch pension you register with an S1 form from the CAK (the Dutch agency for healthcare abroad).
- With a job you are insured on your Greek income, via e-EFKA.
- Without an S1 and without a job you need a policy, and after that there is a public safety net.
Your Dutch basic insurance ends on the day you deregister, not on 31 December.
How does route 1 work, with a Dutch pension?
Whoever brings a Dutch pension or benefit applies to the CAK for an S1 form. With that you register in Greece with EOPYY and receive the same care as an insured Greek. In return you pay the Netherlands a treaty contribution instead of your old premium. The CAK deducts it from your pension every month.
Apply for the S1 well before you leave:
- you can register up to five months before your departure or retirement date;
- the CAK replies within four weeks and sends the S1 document with the letter.
Because the Netherlands is on EOPYY's list of pension countries, you also keep the right to healthcare in the Netherlands.
If you leave before your AOW age, watch the date. The CAK route is expected to remain open from 1 November 2026 only to new registrants with AOW, Anw, WAO, WIA or Wajong. With only an early retirement pension, an RVU payment or an occupational pension taken early, you fall outside it until AOW age. Whoever is already a client keeps their rights. What exactly changes.
How do you get your EU-AMKA with an S1?
The AMKA is the Greek social security number. You get it free at a KEP (the citizens' service centre) or an office of e-EFKA. That applies to working people and to those who come with an S1.
If you come with an S1, EOPYY expects you to have an EU-AMKA: that is what the AMKA is called for people insured via a European form. Bring your S1 to the counter. The Greek Ministry of Labour lists the S1 as an extra document for an EU citizen's AMKA, at a KEP and at e-EFKA. How to have your S1 registered with EOPYY is a question for e-EFKA; EOPYY refers you there (tm.asfikan@efka.gov.gr).
| What | Time limit or amount |
|---|---|
| Applying for the S1 at the CAK | up to 5 months before the departure or retirement date |
| Reply from the CAK | within 4 weeks, with the S1 document |
| EU-AMKA (with S1) | free, at a KEP or e-EFKA, with your S1 |
| Co-insured on your partner's S1 | € 34.63 a month (2026) |
How does route 2 work, with a job?
If you take up employment, your employer registers you with e-EFKA, the Greek social insurance institution. Your contribution runs through the payslip, and after 50 insured days you are entitled to healthcare. If you go self-employed, you pay EFKA contributions yourself in fixed classes. A married partner can be included.
What if you don't get an S1?
Without an S1 and without a job, first check whether you can be co-insured on your partner's S1. That is possible if your partner has AOW, Anw, WAO, WIA or Wajong and you have little or no income of your own. It costs € 34.63 a month (2026), deducted from your partner's pension. The Greek side decides, and e-EFKA asks for a marriage that is in the register of the AADE, the Greek tax authority. For an unmarried partner we found no official confirmation.
Otherwise you choose a private policy that covers everything, Greek or foreign. Without such a policy the police won't give you a registration certificate, and without a certificate you get no active AMKA. If the policy excludes an existing condition, ask beforehand whether it still counts as full cover; we found this confirmed nowhere. After five years you have permanent residence and the requirement lapses.
The safety net is article 33 of law 4368/2016. An EU citizen who is not insured directly or as a family member has free access to public healthcare as soon as they have their certificate and an active AMKA. Not only after five years, and with no income limit. For medicines a co-payment may apply. Activating your AMKA is free, at a KEP or e-EFKA. Whether you may use the safety net with a private policy, for what the policy doesn't cover, the article doesn't say: ask.
Voluntary continued insurance with e-EFKA is only for those who were insured in Greece before. A scheme to buy your way in, like the Spanish convenio especial, we didn't find.
How does it work after that?
The public system covers GP, hospital and medicines.
The contribution per prescription. Greece has no excess like the Netherlands, but it does have a co-payment that differs per medicine. Some are exempt, for others you pay a share yourself. If you take chronic medication, factor that in.
The waiting times. In the public circuit it can take a long time before you see a specialist. Many Greeks and Dutch emigrants therefore take out supplementary private insurance for specialists and dentist.
Why does the distance to the hospital count?
On the mainland and on the large islands (Crete, Rhodes, Corfu) there is a regional hospital within reach. On a small island there is a health centre, and everything more serious goes by boat or helicopter to Crete, Rhodes or Athens. In bad weather the boat doesn't sail.
For a healthy couple of fifty that is an acceptable risk. With a chronic condition, during a pregnancy or at eighty it is a different story. Weigh that in when choosing your place.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey: the same steps, but applied to your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines monitored. See the whole journey to Greece.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- EOPYY — access to healthcare in Greece for EU citizens — eu-healthcare.eopyy.gov.gr
- Ministry of Labour — the social security number AMKA — ypergasias.gov.gr
- AMKA — the citizens' portal — amka.gr
- CAK — living abroad with a Dutch pension — hetcak.nl
- Your Europe — health cover when moving within the EU — europa.eu
- CAK — registering from abroad and the S1 or 121 document — hetcak.nl
- CAK — emigrating with early retirement pension, the expected change from 1 November 2026 — hetcak.nl
- CAK — co-insuring family members, and the contribution per country of residence (Greece 2026) — hetcak.nl
- CAK — country-of-residence factor and nominal contribution 2026 — hetcak.nl
- e-EFKA — co-insuring a spouse, the marriage in the AADE register — e-efka.gov.gr
- Mitos — registration certificate for inactive persons: any full policy counts — en.mitos.gov.gr
- Law 4368/2016, article 33 — free access to public healthcare for the uninsured — e-nomothesia.gr
- Mitos — activating the AMKA for an EU citizen, at e-EFKA or a KEP, with the S1 as an extra document — mitos.gov.gr
- e-EFKA — right to healthcare for employees after 50 insured days — e-efka.gov.gr
- e-EFKA — voluntary continued insurance, only after earlier insurance in Greece — e-efka.gov.gr
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