Health Insurance

You belong to the public health insurance system.

All foreigners with an EU passport, whether economically active – employed or freelancing – or holding permanent residence, belong to the public health insurance system.

All non-EU foreigners who are

• employed with a Czech employer,
• have a permanent residence card,
• are family members of an EU citizen, or
• have Temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees

belong to the public health insurance system.

Automatically.

It is an obligation of your employer to register you in the insurance system. To one of the public health insurance companies, to the employer’s preference.

You are legally registered from the first day when you start your job. It may take a month or two to the employer to deliver the insurance card to you, but you can use the insurance anytime before that.

Your employer automatically informs the insurance company and stops paying your insurance within 3 days.

If you are unemployed, you can continue with the same insurance company and pay as “a self-payer”; the amount changes every year (in 2021 it is 2,052 CZK a month). Or you may register as a jobseeker with the Labour office and the government will take over the payments until you have a taxable income again.

Learn more about the Labour office in the guide  When unemployed.

The insurance premium is being sent to the insurance company by your employer.

If you have an employment contract or an employment agreement of work activity (“Dohoda o pracovní činnosti”) and your monthly income has reached a certain amount (at least 4.000,- CZK), your employer is obliged to pay your insurance premium.

You pay, your employer takes off, 4,5 % of your gross salary, and your employer pays 9 % on top.

If you suspect your employer (company, agency) is not paying health insurance premiums properly, you can obtain a receipt of what has been paid from your insurance company.

You cannot switch the public insurance system to commercial insurance or vice versa. If you are resident in the CR (for more than 3 months or as soon as economically active), you have to participate in the public health insurance system.

In case your life or work situation changes (e.g. your job finishes), you need to recontact your public health insurance company to make sure you remain in the public health insurance system in the right category (job seeker, parent looking after a minor child etc.).

You can take a break from the insurance payments in case you decide to move out form the Czech Republic for a longer period of time (3 months or more) with no intention to return any time soon but you need to deregister first.

However, if you are a holder of a permanent residency permit, you can only opt out of the public health insurance system in case you leave the country for over 6 months and inform your health insurance company in writing in advance. You will only be allowed to return back to the system if you can prove that you were medically insured abroad during the whole period of time when you were absent.

Your blue insurance card is EHIC – European Health Insurance Card. It is valid for emergency and urgent treatment in all EEA (EU+Norway+Iceland+Liechtenstein) countries and Switzerland.

The intention of the EHIC scheme is to allow people to continue their stay in a country without having to return home for medical care; as such, it does not cover people who have visited a country for the purpose of obtaining medical care, nor does it cover care, such as many types of dental treatment, which can be delayed until the individual returns to his or her home country.

It only covers healthcare which is normally covered by a statutory health care system in the visited country, so it does not render travel insurance obsolete.

If registered in the system of Auxiliary Registration (Výpomocná registrace in Czech), you will obtain a yellow card with either basic care (neodkladná/nezbytná péče) or full care (plná péče) written on it. This card only covers healthcare in the Czech Republic. Ask at the insurance provider from your home country about international coverage based on their insurance.

The public health insurance covers all services that are intended to improve or maintain the health of the insured, or to alleviate his or her suffering.

The insurance covers both ambulatory and institutional care, preventive care, the provision of medicines, drugs or medical devices, spa care and others.

This healthcare is provided free of charge to you in a healthcare facility that has a contract with your health insurance provider. However, in the case of acute need for medical treatment, you may not be refused in a medical facility that does not have a contract.

Only the basic material and treatment is paid in the case of dental treatment.

Only a small part of healthcare is excluded from the health insurance, for example cosmetic surgery without any health reason.

You always have to have the insurance card for every visit to a doctor or medical facility and, in case you have medicine from doctor’s prescription, for collecting your medicines at a pharmacy.

If registered in the system of Auxiliary Registration (Výpomocná registrace in Czech), it depends on your specific life situation what is covered. If basic care (neodkladná/nezbytná péče) is written on your insurance card, only emergencies are covered, if full care (plná péče) is written on it, you are entitled to the same level of care as if having a Czech public health insurance system.

A completely different set of rules applies to kids. In most, but not all cases, they belong to the public health insurance system from the moment they are born till the time their residence permit expires or till they reach their 18th year of age. To learn more about it, please, follow this guide for insurance of new born children or this guide for moving children from private health insurance to public insurance since 2024.

You belong to the public health insurance system.

All foreigners with an EU passport, whether economically active – employed or freelancing – or holding permanent residence, belong to the public health insurance system.

All non-EU foreigners who are

• employed with a Czech employer,
• have a permanent residence card,
• are family members of an EU citizen, or
• have Temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees

belong to the public health insurance system.

As an EU citizen with a residence in the CR, you have to register with a public insurance system if you have the right to or into the Auxiliary Registration system if you have to.

Visit the insurance company of your choice and bring your passport/ID and a copy of your Czech business licence or Czech temporary residence card or registration for jobseeker from the Labour office or an economically active EU spouse or documents proving your factual residence with you.

If you are economically inactive, and without an economically active EU spouse, and you have been denied the possibility to register based on your factual residence and you, therefore, have to register into the Auxiliary Registration system (Výpomocná registrace in Czech), contact the insurance company of your country as well as the Czech one and ask for specifics of this registration. The insurance company from your country will issue the international S1 form with which you will go to the Czech one.

Don’t forget, you need to update the insurance company about your residence status, once you reach the permanent residence.

If self-employment is your main economic activity, the amount paid in contributions depends on your income, but the minimum is 2,722 CZK/month (2023). In the first year of their trade licence, everyone starts with the minimum health care contribution, regardless of the (expected) annual income.

If you have a job as an employee and are using the trade licence for a secondary income, then you are not required to pay monthly advances. The contribution for the previous year depends on the total business profit.

When your income tax return is being prepared you or your accountant will also calculate whether the minimum health care contributions were enough or whether you must pay extra. Also, based on the income from the previous year, you will be informed by your accountant of the new monthly health care contribution for the current year.

The amount is determined by the profit achieved in the previous year. The assessment base for calculation of health insurance is 50% of the profit (gross income minus expenses equals profit). The health care contribution is 13.5% of the assessment base. In most cases – where the lump sum for expenses is 60% – this effectively amounts to about 2.7% of the income.

If the actual assessment base is lower than the minimum calculation basis, then the health care contribution is set at the minimum monthly advance mentioned above. 

Public health insurance must be paid before the 8th of the current month for each previous month. The contributions must be sent to the account of the health insurance company you have selected (from a total of six that are officially credited), with your IČO number as the variable code.

You cannot switch the public insurance system to commercial insurance or vice versa. If you are resident in the CR (for more than 3 months or as soon as economically active), you have to participate in the public health insurance system.

In case your life or work situation changes (e.g. your job finishes), you need to recontact your public health insurance company to make sure you remain in the public health insurance system in the right category (job seeker, parent looking after a minor child etc.).

You can take a break from the insurance payments in case you decide to move out form the Czech Republic for a longer period of time (3 months or more) with no intention to return any time soon but you need to deregister first.

However, if you are a holder of a permanent residency permit, you can only opt out of the public health insurance system in case you leave the country for over 6 months and inform your health insurance company in writing in advance. You will only be allowed to return back to the system if you can prove that you were medically insured abroad during the whole period of time when you were absent.

Your blue insurance card is EHIC – European Health Insurance Card. It is valid for emergency and urgent treatment in all EEA (EU+Norway+Iceland+Liechtenstein) countries and Switzerland.

The intention of the EHIC scheme is to allow people to continue their stay in a country without having to return home for medical care; as such, it does not cover people who have visited a country for the purpose of obtaining medical care, nor does it cover care, such as many types of dental treatment, which can be delayed until the individual returns to his or her home country.

It only covers healthcare which is normally covered by a statutory health care system in the visited country, so it does not render travel insurance obsolete.

If registered in the system of Auxiliary Registration (Výpomocná registrace in Czech), you will obtain a yellow card with either basic care (neodkladná/nezbytná péče) or full care (plná péče) written on it. This card only covers healthcare in the Czech Republic. Ask at the insurance provider from your home country about international coverage based on their insurance.

The public health insurance covers all services that are intended to improve or maintain the health of the insured, or to alleviate his or her suffering.

The insurance covers both ambulatory and institutional care, preventive care, the provision of medicines, drugs or medical devices, spa care and others.

This healthcare is provided free of charge to you in a healthcare facility that has a contract with your health insurance provider. However, in the case of acute need for medical treatment, you may not be refused in a medical facility that does not have a contract.

Only the basic material and treatment is paid in the case of dental treatment.

Only a small part of healthcare is excluded from the health insurance, for example cosmetic surgery without any health reason.

You always have to have the insurance card for every visit to a doctor or medical facility and, in case you have medicine from doctor’s prescription, for collecting your medicines at a pharmacy.

If registered in the system of Auxiliary Registration (Výpomocná registrace in Czech), it depends on your specific life situation what is covered. If basic care (neodkladná/nezbytná péče) is written on your insurance card, only emergencies are covered, if full care (plná péče) is written on it, you are entitled to the same level of care as if having a Czech public health insurance system.

A completely different set of rules applies to kids. In most, but not all cases, they belong to the public health insurance system from the moment they are born till the time their residence permit expires or till they reach their 18th year of age. To learn more about it, please, follow this guide for insurance of new born children or this guide for moving children from private health insurance to public insurance since 2024.

You belong to the public health insurance system.

All foreigners with an EU passport, whether economically active – employed or freelancing – or holding permanent residence, belong to the public health insurance system.

All non-EU foreigners who are

• employed with a Czech employer,
• have a permanent residence card,
• are family members of an EU citizen, or
• have Temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees

belong to the public health insurance system.

As an EU citizen with a residence in the CR, you have to register with a public insurance system if you have the right to or into the Auxiliary Registration system if you have to.

Visit the insurance company of your choice and bring your passport/ID and a copy of your Czech business licence or Czech temporary residence card or registration for jobseeker from the Labour office or an economically active EU spouse or documents proving your factual residence with you.

If you are economically inactive, and without an economically active EU spouse, and you have been denied the possibility to register based on your factual residence and you, therefore, have to register into the Auxiliary Registration system (Výpomocná registrace in Czech), contact the insurance company of your country as well as the Czech one and ask for specifics of this registration. The insurance company from your country will issue the international S1 form with which you will go to the Czech one.

Don’t forget, you need to update the insurance company about your residence status, once you reach the permanent residence.

That depends on your economic activity. Whether you are employed, self-employed or unemployed.

Choose one of the options from the persona filters as EU citizen on the top.

You cannot switch the public insurance system to commercial insurance or vice versa. If you are resident in the CR (for more than 3 months or as soon as economically active), you have to participate in the public health insurance system.

In case your life or work situation changes (e.g. your job finishes), you need to recontact your public health insurance company to make sure you remain in the public health insurance system in the right category (job seeker, parent looking after a minor child etc.).

You can take a break from the insurance payments in case you decide to move out form the Czech Republic for a longer period of time (3 months or more) with no intention to return any time soon but you need to deregister first.

However, if you are a holder of a permanent residency permit, you can only opt out of the public health insurance system in case you leave the country for over 6 months and inform your health insurance company in writing in advance. You will only be allowed to return back to the system if you can prove that you were medically insured abroad during the whole period of time when you were absent.

Your blue insurance card is EHIC – European Health Insurance Card. It is valid for emergency and urgent treatment in all EEA (EU+Norway+Iceland+Liechtenstein) countries and Switzerland.

The intention of the EHIC scheme is to allow people to continue their stay in a country without having to return home for medical care; as such, it does not cover people who have visited a country for the purpose of obtaining medical care, nor does it cover care, such as many types of dental treatment, which can be delayed until the individual returns to his or her home country.

It only covers healthcare which is normally covered by a statutory health care system in the visited country, so it does not render travel insurance obsolete.

If registered in the system of Auxiliary Registration (Výpomocná registrace in Czech), you will obtain a yellow card with either basic care (neodkladná/nezbytná péče) or full care (plná péče) written on it. This card only covers healthcare in the Czech Republic. Ask at the insurance provider from your home country about international coverage based on their insurance.

The public health insurance covers all services that are intended to improve or maintain the health of the insured, or to alleviate his or her suffering.

The insurance covers both ambulatory and institutional care, preventive care, the provision of medicines, drugs or medical devices, spa care and others.

This healthcare is provided free of charge to you in a healthcare facility that has a contract with your health insurance provider. However, in the case of acute need for medical treatment, you may not be refused in a medical facility that does not have a contract.

Only the basic material and treatment is paid in the case of dental treatment.

Only a small part of healthcare is excluded from the health insurance, for example cosmetic surgery without any health reason.

You always have to have the insurance card for every visit to a doctor or medical facility and, in case you have medicine from doctor’s prescription, for collecting your medicines at a pharmacy.

If registered in the system of Auxiliary Registration (Výpomocná registrace in Czech), it depends on your specific life situation what is covered. If basic care (neodkladná/nezbytná péče) is written on your insurance card, only emergencies are covered, if full care (plná péče) is written on it, you are entitled to the same level of care as if having a Czech public health insurance system.

A completely different set of rules applies to kids. In most, but not all cases, they belong to the public health insurance system from the moment they are born till the time their residence permit expires or till they reach their 18th year of age. To learn more about it, please, follow this guide for insurance of new born children or this guide for moving children from private health insurance to public insurance since 2024.

You belong to the public health insurance system if you fall into one of these categories:

• You are registered as an active job seeker at the unemployment office. Read more here
• You collect maternity or parental benefit
• You are an economically dependent close family member (typically a spouse) of an economically active EU citizen
• You can prove your factual residence in the Czech Republic for the period longer than three months
  Bear in mind though that for registering into the system based on your factual residence, you need to deliver a substantial amount of documents proving your professional and family bonds in the Czech Republic (accommodation contract + proof of 3 monthly payments for rent, electricity bills, waste fee payment, bank account statements, confirmation of studies, etc.).
  Also bear in mind that each person is assessed individually and it is not guaranteed that you will be allowed to register into the system based on factual residence. Typically, people without any prior history of registration (international pensioners, newcomers, etc.) are not allowed to use this option.

If you cannot fit into any of these categories, then you have to stay in the public system of your home EU country (you do not belong to the Czech commercial health insurance system) and register in the Czech Republic for auxiliary registration (Výpomocná registrace in Czech). The officers at the insurance company will tell you how.

As an EU citizen with a residence in the CR, you have to register with a public insurance system if you have the right to or into the Auxiliary Registration system if you have to.

Visit the insurance company of your choice and bring your passport/ID and a copy of your Czech business licence or Czech temporary residence card or registration for jobseeker from the Labour office or an economically active EU spouse or documents proving your factual residence with you.

If you are economically inactive, and without an economically active EU spouse, and you have been denied the possibility to register based on your factual residence and you, therefore, have to register into the Auxiliary Registration system (Výpomocná registrace in Czech), contact the insurance company of your country as well as the Czech one and ask for specifics of this registration. The insurance company from your country will issue the international S1 form with which you will go to the Czech one.

Don’t forget, you need to update the insurance company about your residence status, once you reach the permanent residence.

If you are unemployed and allowed to register into the Czech public health insurance system, you can pay as “a person without a taxable income” 2 552 CZK a month (2024); or register as unemployed with the Labour office as an active job seeker, and the government will take over the payments until you have a taxable income again. Learn more about that in our guide When unemployed.

The State pays the contributions for the unemployed, pensioners, students, women on maternity leave, women taking care of one child less than 7 years old or more children less than 15 years old, prisoners, soldiers, and people receiving social security benefits.

If you have to stay in the system of Auxiliary Registration (Výpomocná registrace in Czech), you will have to pay the amount established by the insurance company from your home country.

You cannot switch the public insurance system to commercial insurance or vice versa. If you are resident in the CR (for more than 3 months or as soon as economically active), you have to participate in the public health insurance system.

In case your life or work situation changes (e.g. your job finishes), you need to recontact your public health insurance company to make sure you remain in the public health insurance system in the right category (job seeker, parent looking after a minor child etc.).

You can take a break from the insurance payments in case you decide to move out form the Czech Republic for a longer period of time (3 months or more) with no intention to return any time soon but you need to deregister first.

However, if you are a holder of a permanent residency permit, you can only opt out of the public health insurance system in case you leave the country for over 6 months and inform your health insurance company in writing in advance. You will only be allowed to return back to the system if you can prove that you were medically insured abroad during the whole period of time when you were absent.

Your blue insurance card is EHIC – European Health Insurance Card. It is valid for emergency and urgent treatment in all EEA (EU+Norway+Iceland+Liechtenstein) countries and Switzerland.

The intention of the EHIC scheme is to allow people to continue their stay in a country without having to return home for medical care; as such, it does not cover people who have visited a country for the purpose of obtaining medical care, nor does it cover care, such as many types of dental treatment, which can be delayed until the individual returns to his or her home country.

It only covers healthcare which is normally covered by a statutory health care system in the visited country, so it does not render travel insurance obsolete.

If registered in the system of Auxiliary Registration (Výpomocná registrace in Czech), you will obtain a yellow card with either basic care (neodkladná/nezbytná péče) or full care (plná péče) written on it. This card only covers healthcare in the Czech Republic. Ask at the insurance provider from your home country about international coverage based on their insurance.

The public health insurance covers all services that are intended to improve or maintain the health of the insured, or to alleviate his or her suffering.

The insurance covers both ambulatory and institutional care, preventive care, the provision of medicines, drugs or medical devices, spa care and others.

This healthcare is provided free of charge to you in a healthcare facility that has a contract with your health insurance provider. However, in the case of acute need for medical treatment, you may not be refused in a medical facility that does not have a contract.

Only the basic material and treatment is paid in the case of dental treatment.

Only a small part of healthcare is excluded from the health insurance, for example cosmetic surgery without any health reason.

You always have to have the insurance card for every visit to a doctor or medical facility and, in case you have medicine from doctor’s prescription, for collecting your medicines at a pharmacy.

If registered in the system of Auxiliary Registration (Výpomocná registrace in Czech), it depends on your specific life situation what is covered. If basic care (neodkladná/nezbytná péče) is written on your insurance card, only emergencies are covered, if full care (plná péče) is written on it, you are entitled to the same level of care as if having a Czech public health insurance system.

A completely different set of rules applies to kids. In most, but not all cases, they belong to the public health insurance system from the moment they are born till the time their residence permit expires or till they reach their 18th year of age. To learn more about it, please, follow this guide for insurance of new born children or this guide for moving children from private health insurance to public insurance since 2024.