How to co-insure family members

In many countries it's possible that your healthcare coverage can extend to people who are dependent on you and not otherwise insured. Here's how Luxembourg handles it depending on whether you reside in Luxembourg, simply work in Luxembourg or if your family members live here.

As a resident of Luxembourg you can only co-insure your partner – through marriage or civil union (PACS) – or children that you care for. In this instance, it doesn’t matter whether the children are legitimate, natural or adopted.

Register with the RNPP – by sending materials to CNS

An important first step for the principal insured person is to register everyone with the RNPP (National Register of Natural persons). Different materials must be sent to the CNS in order to complete this registry, depending on whether the co-insured is a child (birth certificate plus certificate of residence/household composition), a spouse (marriage certificate plus certificate of residence/household composition), or a partner. 

If a partnership was first registered abroad, the relationship may need to first be recognised in Luxembourg through the Public Prosecutor's Office (Parquet général). Following this 'recognition', a 'certificate of partnership' will be provided by the Luxembourg Civil Register — after which time a partner can then register with the RNPP. This 'certificate of partnership' will also need to be included in your application to the CNS for co-insurance.

Co-insuring a spouse or partner

How you proceed to co-insure a spouse will depend on their country of origin. If the spouse has been insured at any point in Luxembourg you can simply contact the CNS by phone or email to renew their status.

If they were previously covered by CNS and lost their affiliation, they should wait to receive a document from CCSS entitled 'Information concernant un déclaration de sortie' (in French: Information concerning a declaration of exit) before contacting the CNS.

If your spouse previously lived and was insured in an EU country or any country that has a bi-lateral agreement with the Grand-Duchy, a certificate of co-insurance issued by the former health insurance fund must be presented to the CNS.

If the spouse/partner has left a country not linked to Luxembourg by bilateral or multilateral agreement: generally, the CNS will send a sworn statement form to be filled out by the partner.

Co-insuring children

For children born in Luxembourg or residing in Luxembourg, co-insurance normally happens automatically. They will be covered until the age of 29, inclusive, if they have resources 'beneath the guaranteed minimum wage for a single person'.

An extension of this coverage period is possible after the age of 30 if your child is pursuing higher education and receives permission from the CNS.

Children will be co-insured under the parent they live with or the parent responsible for their 'maintenance and education'; should this pertain to both parents, the co-insurance will automatically be assigned to the eldest of the two parents or responsible caregivers.

Information for cross-border workers

As a cross-border worker, working and being insured in Luxembourg, family members may also be co-insured in Luxembourg. However, the legislation of the country of residence determines which family members may be co-insured with the main insured in Luxembourg.

Each family member defined as a dependent of the principal insured will in turn need an individual registration form. The country of residence will request this form from Luxembourg electronically via the Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information (EESSI) database.

A certificate of entitlement to co-insurance submitted by the principal insured cannot be accepted.

If the main insured person lives abroad and the family member(s) live in Luxembourg and are not otherwise insured here or abroad, a request for co-insurance can be submitted to the CNS via the Co-insurance and personal details service. They will then decide whether the request for co-insurance is eligible.

Whatever the case may be, co-insuring a family member will not cost the main policy holder more.

For further questions or for more information you can check out the CNS FAQ section or call their hotline at (+352) 27 57-1.

CNS has also provided a video explaining the above mentioned procedures (in French).