Using private clinics in Portugal: CUF, Lusíadas, Hospital da Luz, Trofa Saúde and HPA Saúde
This guide will help you choose a private clinic, book on your own or through insurance, check the price in advance and check the final bill. All the amounts below are the experience of particular patients at particular branches, not a single price list for the chain.
Choose a chain and a specific branch
CUF is a large chain of hospitals and clinics with branches in Lisbon, Porto and other regions. Lusíadas Saúde and Hospital da Luz, which belongs to the Luz Saúde group, also operate in different parts of the country. Trofa Saúde is especially widespread in the north, and HPA Saúde, including the Hospital Particular do Algarve (Private Hospital of the Algarve), in the south.
Compare not only the chains but specific branches and doctors. The services on offer differ: some have no 24-hour Urgência (emergency department), gynaecology, children's department, magnetic resonance imaging or inpatient ward. One doctor may work with your insurer while a colleague in the same hospital does not. It is easier to choose the speciality and the doctor first, then check the branch, the language of the consultation, the earliest date and the payment terms.
“I went about a couple of moles to Da Luz and Lusíadas, at both clinics the doctors looked at all my moles. I just booked an appointment without saying what for (as far as I remember).”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkpequenos_PT15.08.2025
“I don't want to remember that evening, in short 🥲 went to Luz Setúbal — they said they're temporarily not providing urgência — go to Lisbon went to CUF Almada — they said 5-6 hours wait in urgência — advised us to go to CUF Tejo (they read about my problem and knew it was to do with pregnancy) went to CUF Tejo — they said there's no gynaecology there 🤷♀️ went to Descobertas and in the end they saw me)”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal09.07.2025
Book through the website, the app or by phone
Without insurance you can book directly: choose the especialidade (speciality), médico (doctor) and unidade (branch). Booking is usually available on the chain's website or app, by phone and at the reception desk. Say that you will pay as a particular (private patient) and ask for the price of the specific doctor you have chosen.
If your online account doesn't work, phone the branch: cancelled slots sometimes come up on the same day. For a doctor in demand the wait can be several months, whereas any available specialist can see you within a day or two. For an urgent problem, first check that the hospital you have chosen provides the kind of emergency care you need.
“It won't let you book online, it wants you to register an account in the app. We went to Porto Trindade 6 times a month apart (1.5 hours' drive with an elderly person). The girl says she can see the request, a password will come by email. The password doesn't come. We called the app support — they can't see the request — they send us to reception in Porto... in Porto the request is there. More than six months of attempts got us nowhere.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkmed_strahovki_pt18.10.2025
“The day before yesterday I went to a dermatologist at CUF, I called, they said we have a slot today, the next one is 30 December... Had to change my plans for the day in a hurry”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkchatporto17.10.2025
Give your insurance details before the visit
When booking, give the name of the insurer, the plan and the policy number. Ask them to check three things at once: whether the clinic is in the partner network, whether the doctor you have chosen works under that agreement and whether the specific service is covered. Having a policy does not in itself mean that any doctor and any test will be paid for.
Preço particular or tabela particular is the clinic's price if you pay yourself. Preço convencionado is the price agreed between the clinic and the insurer. Out of it the patient usually pays a copagamento (fixed co-payment), coinsurance (a percentage of the cost) or a franquia (excess), and the clinic bills the rest to the insurer. During the waiting period the cover may not apply yet, but a separate plan sometimes already gives access to the agreed or a discounted price.
If the clinic does not bill the insurer directly, you may be able to use reembolso (reimbursement): the patient pays the whole bill and then uploads the documents to the insurer's app. The percentage and limit of the refund depend solely on the terms of the policy.
“Right after the first payment you get special prices at clinics in the Multicare network (CUF, Luz, Lusíadas etc.) with doctors who work with Multicare Access to cover (if it's included) comes after 60 days.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkmed_strahovki_pt28.12.2025
“A very strange mafia here with the insurers, of course. If you walk in off the street to CUF, a consultation costs 70-100 euros. If you have insurance, the price of the consultation instantly turns into 40 euros (of which you pay a part). How can it be that the insurance doesn't cover the birth, but since you have insurance, then fine, ‘we'll make it cheaper’.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal11.12.2025
Get a referral and prior approval
You don't usually need a referral for a consultation. For tests, an ultrasound scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), procedures and a hospital stay, the clinic or the insurer may need one. Without a doctor's request, some tests will only be done at the full price or won't count towards your insurance cover.
For an expensive procedure, ask the clinic to submit a pedido de autorização or pré-autorização (request for prior approval). For a planned hospital stay and childbirth this is also called aprovação do processo clínico (approval of the clinical case). Keep the insurer's written reply and check how long it is valid: a request made too early may fall within the waiting period and lead to a refusal.
The test, the medical reason and the patient's details on the referral must all match. If the insurer has asked for extra tests or a report, send them before the procedure, not after it.
“I recently had an MRI at CUF Descobertas with Multicare insurance. It came to 70 euros. They gave me a disposable gown, explained everything before the procedure in English, I liked the service. Only a week has passed and they still haven't sent the MRI result they promised — so even private clinics can be slow. And the second thing, if I understood correctly, the price of the service depends on whether you have a referral from a doctor. Probably if there's no referral it'll be more expensive even with insurance. But I'm not sure. At least blood tests without a doctor's referral are more expensive.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkchatlisboa20.04.2026
“We had a misunderstanding over insurance for the birth at CUF Descobertas. Multicare insurance, a year had passed by the time of the birth. BUT the doctor requested cover 1.5 months before the annual renewal and the insurer refused. So when we arrived at urgência in labour, of course they took us to a room and started helping me, but sent my husband to reception to pay a deposit. But when they realised the insurer had refused us, they made us pay the minimum cost of 2100. We paid. After the birth they billed another 900. Of course we got reimbursed later, but we had to ask Multicare to explain everything to CUF and the second ”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal19.10.2025
Ask for a written quote for expensive services
Before a birth, an operation or a hospital stay, ask for an orçamento (quote) showing the agreed price, the insurer's expected share, the excess and the deposit. Check separately whether it includes the doctor, anaesthesia, the operating theatre, medicines, consumables, the room, a companion, emergency admission and care for the newborn.
A birth package does not mean a fixed final bill: a caesarean section, extra days, intensive care and services for the baby may be charged separately. If the insurance waiting period has not ended, the clinic sometimes offers its own discount or a chain plan, but you need to get this in writing. An ordinary day in a ward and a day in intensive care are different services and cost different amounts.
“Just the other day I was puzzling over the same questions. I also have Multicare 3, my pregnancy is being followed and I'm planning to give birth at CUF, a year won't have passed by the time of the birth. Here's what I managed to find out: the clinic makes the request to the insurer. And since the waiting period is still running, the insurer doesn't cover the birth in full. It sends the client a letter about this. It also sends a letter to the clinic saying that, at your discretion, you may give our client a discount on the birth (usually it's 50% and the birth comes to around 3000 euros) In the end the clinic sends this ‘discounted’ price list itself.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal24.03.2026
“We had the same situation (insurance less than a year old at the time of the birth). But I have Médis, we asked them for partial cover, but they refused. But we had a CUF plan, and the hospital gave us a discount because of it. We went to the clinic itself to meet the doctor who followed me towards the end of the pregnancy, and found out about the prices for the birth there at the same time: they emailed us a price list. When we arrived for the birth itself, we paid a deposit of €2750.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal24.03.2026
Attend the appointment and check the price of anything extra
At reception, show your ID, your tax number and your insurance card or app. Before signing the consent form, ask what amount applies to today's visit. A test, an ultrasound scan, a procedure in the consulting room, consumables and an urgent appointment may turn out to be separate lines.
If the doctor offers to do a small procedure straight away, check its cost before it starts. Even when the consultation and the test take place in the same room, the clinic may charge for them separately. In emergency care you usually pay for the visit itself, tests, medicines and procedures, so it costs considerably more than a planned appointment.
“I also took my son to have his tongue-tie cut when the Multicare insurance hadn't fully come into force yet, but they still gave us a discount at Instituto CUF Porto and I paid 40 euros instead of 70 or 80 for the consultation.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal23.03.2026
“From my experience with CUF I wouldn't go to urgência. We once ended up with an ordinary gynaecologist, someone I could have just booked in the app, but it cost €50 on insurance instead of 15, and we waited 3 hours.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal15.08.2025
Check the bill before paying
Ask for a fatura-recibo (invoice-receipt) and, for complex treatment, a fatura detalhada (itemised invoice). Check the patient's name and tax number, the date, the branch, the doctor, every service and every item. When insurance pays, look for the preço convencionado (agreed price), responsabilidade da seguradora (the insurer's share) and encargo do utente or copagamento (the patient's share).
Compare the bill with the written approval. Don't pay for the same service twice just because of an automatic letter: first send the clinic the receipt, the insurer's approval and the bank confirmation. But you can't simply ignore the notices either — ask for written cancellation or a corrected document.
For reimbursement later, take the doctor's request, the itemised invoice, proof of payment and, if needed, a relatório clínico (medical report). A co-payment already reduced under the agreement usually cannot be claimed again as a fully paid service unless the policy rules expressly allow it.
“At Lusíadas I spent about 4 months getting a bill cancelled, they even sent paper letters promising to collect it through the courts. But it was fine, about 4 months later they cancelled it, but I called them about ten times and wrote.... And six months ago they didn't take the money for blood tests from us — on the website the payment went through, all OK, but it was never taken from the card. I wrote to them twice — the second time it was forwarded to some employee — and there it all just died...”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkpequenos_PT14.08.2025
Get the bill corrected and the overpayment refunded
If the clinic didn't apply your insurance, first ask the insurer to confirm the cover in writing, then send the confirmation to the clinic's faturação (billing department). After recalculating, the clinic refunds the overpayment by the same method or asks for your bank details. If the treatment was outside the partner network, the refund claim is usually made to the insurer itself.
Keep the case number, the letters, the quote, the approval and both versions of the bill. The correction can take several months. After the refund, check that the old debt has been closed and that the remaining cover limit in the insurer's app has been reduced correctly.
“That's exactly what happened to me. My pregnancy was followed by one doctor, but at the time of the birth she was on holiday and the birth was delivered by the doctor on duty Multicare insurance covered everything above the €500 excess. The birth itself came to 3000, we did have to pay the whole amount at first, but that was our and the doctor's mistake, the request to the insurer wasn't done properly. Then we explained everything to the insurer and CUF refunded us 2500.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal12.12.2025
“CUF billed us 1000 euros for a phototherapy lamp that actually cost 90 euros and 280 euros for the visit to urgência) and they still haven't refunded us either.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal09.08.2025
What it costs, according to community conversations
| appointment without insurance | €70–100 for a consultation at CUF; this is one patient's observation, not a single price list for the chain | source |
| appointment with insurance | €15–30: at CUF people quoted €18 for an ordinary appointment and about €30 for a consultation with an ultrasound | source |
| MRI, CUF Descobertas | €70 under Multicare insurance for magnetic resonance imaging | source |
| paediatric intensive care | €525 a day without ventilation at CUF; for two weeks the bill was about €6,700, and under Multicare the patient paid €500. This is intensive care, not an ordinary ward | source |
What to bring
- passport or residence card
- Número de Identificação Fiscal (Portuguese tax number)
- insurance card, app or policy number
- doctor's referral for tests or examinations
- the insurer's written prior approval
- results of previous tests and a list of medicines
- quote for a birth, an operation or a hospital stay
- fatura-recibo (invoice-receipt) and proof of payment
- relatório clínico (medical report) for reimbursement
Where people most often trip up
- People check the clinic network but not the specific doctor: he or she may not work under the agreement with the insurer.
- People treat the price with insurance as a single price list: the co-payment depends on the plan, waiting period, excess and limit.
- People turn up for tests or an MRI without a referral and lose the agreed price.
- People request approval for the birth too early, before the waiting period has ended.
- People take a birth package for the final price and don't check the extra charges for emergency admission, the baby and extra days.
- People don't check whether the particular branch has the emergency care or speciality they need.
- People don't get an itemised invoice and later can't prove a mistake or claim reimbursement.
- People send the insurer a bill that has already been reimbursed, although double reimbursement is usually not allowed.
- People ignore wrong payment demands instead of getting the debt cancelled in writing.
How it went for people
A discount on the birth during the waiting period
A person with a Multicare 3 policy was planning to give birth at CUF before the one-year waiting period had ended. The clinic itself requested cover from the insurer, which refused to pay for the birth in full but suggested the clinic give the client a discount — usually about 50%. Instead of the full cost of about 6,000 euros, the clinic sent a discounted price list and issued a bill for 3,300 euros. For a planned caesarean, it has to be paid a few working days before the operation.
Giving birth at CUF after changing doctor
At 35 weeks a person moved from Luz Porto to CUF Porto because the previous doctor insisted on a caesarean, while the new one thought a natural birth was possible. On the due date she was 2–3 fingers dilated; after a walk she came to the clinic and gave birth with an epidural in 4 hours — from 15:30 to 19:30. During pushing she had a lateral cut, which left 3 stitches. After the birth there were not enough instructions on feeding and care, so from the second day she had to keep questioning the nurse on duty.
A quick birth at Hospital da Luz
A person gave birth to a boy weighing 4.010 kg at Hospital da Luz Lisboa in 8 hours. Contractions started at about 3:00, she managed to spend several hours at home and in the bath, and arrived at the hospital already fully dilated. The baby was born at 11:10 after 10 pushes; before the last one, a small cut was made because the baby was big and the cord short. After the birth mother and baby were put in a postnatal room, and staff came in roughly every hour.
An overnight hospital stay and a long wait for a refund
An unplanned one-night stay in the gynaecology department of Hospital da Luz Lisboa cost a €250 excess plus €50 for urgência under Multicare 3 insurance. On admission €750 was blocked on her account, although the medical care amounted to a private room and one injection. The rest was refunded only 3.5 months later, after a dozen calls and letters.
A child's operation at Luz within a week
A child with adenoids and fluid in the ears was offered a wait of 6–7 months or longer for an operation at a state hospital. At Hospital da Luz the operation was scheduled a week later: the insurer was billed €2,500 and the family paid 10%. Tests and a consultation with the anaesthetist were done on Monday, and on Tuesday the adenoids were removed and grommets fitted. They spent 6 hours in hospital, and a week later, after a check-up, the child was allowed back to school.
Costs with a cheap Planicare plan
A person took out the cheapest Planicare plan for CUF at about €120 a year and used it several times. A GP appointment cost €32.50 instead of €92, a regular prescription medicine €17 instead of €47, a dental clean €30. Several tests, an X-ray and an ultrasound came to about €30. For a planned appointment they were offered a slot an hour later, and with pain they were seen within about 30 minutes, so they decided to renew the insurance.
Retold in our own words from messages in open chats. The link leads to the full original message.