Health insurance

Every foreigner who wants to reside in the Czech Republic must have health insurance. An EU citizen is entitled to public health insurance in the event of gainful activity in the Czech Republic or proof of so-called actual residence. An EU citizen cannot have commercial health insurance. An EU citizen performing gainful activity in the Czech Republic must be part of the public health insurance of the Czech Republic and must unsubscribe from health insurance in the country of origin.

An economically inactive EU citizen should be insured in the place of his/her actual residence. Economically inactive means that he/she is not gainfully employed, does not receive benefits and is not a dependent family member of another insured person. The actual residence or centre of interest is proven by a registration certificate issued by the Ministry of the Interior, Department of Asylum and Migration Policy (OAMP). This registration should be done by every EU citizen staying in the territory for more than 3 months. You can prove your actual residence by a registration certificate and at least five pieces of evidence that your actual residence is indeed in the territory of the Czech Republic. These five pieces of evidence include: a rental agreement, a bill for electricity, gas, telephone and other fees that were paid regularly in the territory of the Czech Republic. Economically inactive persons are self-payers of health insurance and must pay for public health insurance for themselves. If you are an EU citizen with permanent residence in the Czech Republic or are entitled to unemployment benefits (at least 1 year of paid social insurance in the last 2 years), you can register as a job seeker and health insurance will be paid by the state (for the entire period of registration in the case of permanent residence, or for the period of receiving unemployment benefits in the case of previous employment). More information about the registration of job seekers can be found in the chapter “Employment”.

If you are an EU citizen and do not have public health insurance in the Czech Republic, your health insurance from your country of origin applies. Every EU citizen has a European Health Insurance Card. If you do not have one, you can apply for one. It is a free card with which you will be provided ONLY with necessary and urgent medical care (assessed by a doctor) in a state medical facility during a temporary stay in any of the EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland or the United Kingdom, under the same conditions and at the same price as in the country of origin. Any care beyond the scope of necessary and urgent care is paid for personally, i.e. it is not covered by public insurance. For example, pregnancy insurance, postpartum care, chronic illness, cancer are not covered by this public health insurance if you do not have a fact of residence. If you obtain a fact of residence after 3 months of residence in the Czech Republic, the above-mentioned insured events (pregnancy, chronic illness) will be fully covered by public health insurance.