Before you start

For the НСЗУ programme: permanent residence, Ukrainian citizenship, or refugee/complementary-protection status
For a declaration: a РНОКПП tax number and an identity document, signed in person with the chosen doctor
For everyone else: a medical insurance policy valid for the whole period of your residence permit — a condition of the permit itself
A Ukrainian phone number, since clinic booking and results run through apps and SMS

Step-by-step

1
Buy insurance before the permit, because the permit requires it
ДМС lists a valid medical insurance policy covering the full permit period among the required documents. Employers hiring internationally usually provide one; if yours does not, buy either a Ukrainian policy for foreigners or an international policy that explicitly covers Ukraine. Many standard international policies exclude it as a war-risk territory — read the exclusions, not the brochure, and check specifically whether blast and shrapnel injury is covered, because in Odesa that is not a theoretical category.
OnlineWho: You or your employerDaysVaries widely; the war-risk exclusion is the thing to price, not the premium
2
If you hold permanent residence, sign a declaration with a family doctor
The declaration is the contract between you and a primary-care doctor and it is what routes НСЗУ funding to them for your care. You choose the doctor rather than the district, and sign in person at the practice with your identity document and tax number. There is no fee and no address restriction.
In personWho: You, at the chosen practiceHalf an hourFree
3
Pick a private clinic for routine care
Odesa's private sector is the practical answer for most foreign residents: same-week appointments, some English-speaking doctors at the larger networks, and prices low by Western European standards. Pay per visit or take an annual programme if you expect regular use. Ask, when you register, what the clinic's protocol is during an alert — the good ones will tell you plainly where treatment continues and where it pauses.
In personWho: YouSame or next day for most appointmentsA specialist consultation typically ₴900-2,200; annual programmes considerably more
4
Know what to dial, and know that trauma care here is practised
103 for an ambulance, 112 for the unified emergency number, 101 for fire and rescue — the last of which also responds after a strike. Emergency care is provided regardless of status or declaration. Odesa's hospitals have run mass-casualty protocols repeatedly since 2022, so the system is unhappily well drilled. Keep blood group, allergies and an emergency contact written on paper in your wallet as well as in your phone, because phones die in blackouts.
In personWho: YouImmediate
5
Get your prescriptions through the electronic system
Ukraine runs electronic prescriptions: the doctor issues an e-prescription and you collect at any pharmacy with the code sent to your phone. Pharmacies are dense and open late, and many drugs that are prescription-only elsewhere are available over the counter — convenient, and a reason to bring your own regular medication rather than improvising a local equivalent.
Mobile appWho: YouImmediate

Documents you’ll need

Identity document and residence permit
РНОКПП tax number (needed for a declaration)
Medical insurance policy valid for the full permit period
Vaccination and medical history, translated if you want it usable
An emergency card on paper with blood group, allergies and contacts

Things most newcomers don’t know

Temporary residence does not get you into the Programme of Medical Guarantees — permanent residence does.

This is the single most misreported thing about healthcare for foreigners in Ukraine. The insured population under Law No. 2168-VIII is citizens, permanent residents and refugees. A work-permit holder on a one-year temporary permit is outside it, which is exactly why ДМС makes insurance a condition of that permit.

Source: Law of Ukraine No. 2168-VIII / НСЗУ

Check your international policy for a Ukraine war-risk exclusion — and specifically for blast injury.

Many global expatriate policies carve out active conflict zones, and some cover 'accident' but not injury from hostilities. In a city where strikes on the port district have repeatedly damaged residential streets, that distinction is the entire value of the policy.

Source: community-reported

You choose the family doctor, not the catchment area.

The declaration deliberately broke the old address-based assignment. With permanent residence you can pick a doctor across the city — including one who speaks English — and the funding follows you.

Source: МОЗ

Emergency care does not check your status.

Ambulances and emergency departments treat first. Whatever your paperwork situation, 103 or 112 is always the right call — do not delay because you are unsure whether you are covered.

Source: МОЗ / НСЗУ

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming a temporary residence permit brings you into the state programme. It does not.
Buying the cheapest policy without reading the territorial and hostilities exclusions.
Waiting to sign a declaration until you are ill — do it while you are well and can choose the doctor rather than the availability.
Relying on a phone for medical information during a blackout. Keep a paper card.
Self-prescribing because pharmacies will sell you almost anything. Ukrainian pharmacy access is unusually permissive and that is a hazard, not a feature.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.