Private health insurance 2023: A comparison of options in the Czech Republic

For the past two years, foreigners could buy commercial (private) health insurance from only one company, Pojišťovna VZP (PVZP). On 19 September 2023, their monopoly ended and you can once again choose the best option for you from the whole market.

There are currently 6 companies providing this type of insurance. (During October, the number should rise to seven – the Colonnade insurance company should also start offering this insurance.)

1. Axa
2. Maxima
3. PVZP
4. Slavia
5. Uniqa
6. SV

Tomáš Ryšánek from Pafin asked these 6 companies the same list of questions, so you can easily compare their services.

(Author’s note: there are two systems of health insurance in the CR, public and private. If you’re employed, or you’re an EU citizen, you very likely belong to the public health insurance system, besides many other reasons; and this list doesn’t apply to you. Read more general information about health insurance in our guide if you’re unsure which system you belong to.)

Now, let’s begin:

1] Axa

1. A brief introduction (in their own words): Global service delivery market; an insurance leader in the CEE Region, with branches and hundreds of contracted medical facilities all around the globe.
2. Pay-out limits on care for the entire insurance period: EUR 400,000 per insured event, according to legislation requirements
3. Pay-out limits on dental care and prescription drugs for the entire policy period: 5,000 CZK for dental care and 5,000 CZK for medication (limit per insured event)
4. A list and total number of contracted medical facilities available on the policy: All AXA Assistance/Partners contracted facilities
5. Can the assistance service arrange an appointment for the client even at a non-contracted medical facility? YES
6. Is insurance when visiting the Schengen area automatically included in the price? YES
7. Can reimbursement of the treatment bill be dealt with online? YES
8. Any additional benefits (=anything “extra” included in the basic insurance price): NO
9. A possibility for additional insurance for a fee, e.g. supplementary cover: NO
10. Can insurance payments be made online/with a bank transfer/in cash? All options available
11. Cancellation fee costs:
    a) When the policy is cancelled within 2 months of taking out the insurance: 20%
    b) When the policy is cancelled at any point during the duration of the contract: 80%-100% depending on the reason for termination
12. Web: axa-assistance.cz/foreigners-health-insurance

2] Maxima

1. A brief introduction (in their own words): Maxima has been operating on the Central European market since 1994 and offers a wide portfolio of life and non-life insurance products.
2. Pay-out limits on care for the entire insurance period: The fulfillment limit is EUR 400,000 for the STANDARD option/EUR 600,000 for the EXCLUSIVE option; Schengen fulfillment limit: STANDARD – EUR 30,000/EXCLUSIVE – EUR 100,000
3. Pay-out limits on dental care and prescription drugs for the entire policy period: Dental care: STANDARD option – EUR 400/EXCLUSIVE option – EUR 800; Prescribed medication: up to the care limit
4. A list and total number of contracted medical facilities available on the policy: 140 facilities
5. Can the assistance service arrange an appointment for the client even at a non-contracted medical facility? YES
6. Is insurance when visiting the Schengen area automatically included in the price? YES
7. Can reimbursement of the treatment bill be dealt with online? YES
8. Any additional benefits (=anything “extra” included in the basic insurance price): EXCLUSIVE option – contribution to above-standard and supportive health programmes to the amount of CZK 3,000 (total limit); PREMIUM option (for pregnant women) – pregnancy package with a limit of CZK 3,000.
9. A possibility for additional insurance for a fee, e.g. supplementary cover: NO
10. Can insurance payments be made online/with a bank transfer/in cash? All options available.
11. Cancellation fee costs:
    a) When the policy is cancelled within 2 months of taking out the insurance: 30%
    b) When the policy is cancelled at any point during the duration of the contract: 30%
12. Web: maximapojistovna.cz/en

3] PVZP

1. A brief introduction (in their own words): Pojišťovna VZP, a. s. is the number one insurance for foreigners. It is the only company which offers comprehensive health insurance for foreigners: Exclusive – the first commercial health insurance for foreigners, which is completely identical in scope to the public health insurance of Czechia and without any exclusions.
2. Pay-out limits on care for the entire insurance period: CZK 10,000,000 for the first claimed for incident
3. Pay-out limits on dental care and prescription drugs for the entire policy period: EXCLUSIVE option – unlimited up to the main limit of CZK 10,000,000; PLUS option – 5,000 CZK for dental care and 5,000 CZK for medication
4. A list and total number of contracted medical facilities available on the policy:  over 4,000 facilities
5. Can the assistance service arrange an appointment for the client even at a non-contracted medical facility? YES
6. Is insurance when visiting the Schengen area automatically included in the price? YES, but only as part of the EXCLUSIVE option
7. Can reimbursement of the treatment bill be dealt with online? YES
8. Any additional benefits (=anything “extra” included in the basic insurance price):Allowance CZK 2,400 (PLUS) per year/CZK 3,600 (EXCLUSIVE) per year for listed health services
   
9. A possibility for additional insurance for a fee, e.g. supplementary cover: – YES: liability insurance, hospitalisation insurance
10. Can insurance payments be made online/with a bank transfer/in cash? Online and with a bank transfer. Cash payments can be made only at branches.
11. Cancellation fee costs:
    a) When the policy is cancelled within 2 months of taking out the insurance: 20% of the premium to maximum of CZK 3,000
    b) When the policy is cancelled at any point during the duration of the contract: 50% of the premium up to CZK 20,000
12. Web: www.pvzp.cz/en

4] Slavia

1. A brief introduction (in their own words): Slavia Pojišťovna, a member of SPGROUP a.s. is  an expert in non-life insurance and a leader in health insurance for foreigners. It builds on many years of experience in the insurance industry, which goes back to the times of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in 1868.
2. Pay-out limits on care for the entire insurance period: Medical expenses of CZK 10,000,000
3. Pay-out limits on dental care and prescription drugs for the entire policy period: CZK 15,000 for dental treatments; CZK 10,000 for prescribed medication
4. A list and total number of contracted medical facilities available on the policy: 350 facilities
5. Can the assistance service arrange an appointment for the client even at a non-contracted medical facility? YES, through the assistance service Global Assistance according to the current capacity of doctors
6. Is insurance when visiting the Schengen area automatically included in the price? YES
7. Can reimbursement of the treatment bill be dealt with online? Incident reports can be submitted online, but bills for treatment must be delivered on paper to a branch or the head office.
8. Any additional benefits (=anything “extra” included in the basic insurance price):Doctor service (www.ulekare.cz)
9. A possibility for additional insurance for a fee, e.g. supplementary cover:YES, Civil liability insurance
10. Can insurance payments be made online/with a bank transfer/in cash?Online card payment and bank transfer
11. Cancellation fee costs:
    a) When the policy is cancelled within 2 months of taking out the insurance: 20%
    b) When the policy is cancelled at any point during the duration of the contract: 20%
12. Web: slavia-pojistovna.cz/en

5] Uniqa

1. A brief introduction (in their own words): The Czech-Slovak UNIQA financial group forms part of the international UNIQA Insurance Group concern, which is active in 18 European markets, has 22,400 employees and currently serves more than 16 million clients. The key region for its activities are the Austrian market and Central Europe.
2. Pay-out limits on care for the entire insurance period: The insurance indemnity limit is EUR 400,000
3. Pay-out limits on dental care and prescription drugs for the entire policy period: unlimited up to the main limit of CZK 10,000,000
4. A list and total number of contracted medical facilities available on the policy: We use contracted healthcare facilities for assistance services with which we cooperate
5. Can the assistance service arrange an appointment for the client even at a non-contracted medical facility? YES
6. Is insurance when visiting the Schengen area automatically included in the price? YES. If the client would like territorial validity only for Czechia, a discount on the insurance premium is given
7. Can reimbursement of the treatment bill be dealt with online? YES
8. Any additional benefits (=anything “extra” included in the basic insurance price): Clients receive access to a mobile application through which they can request a preliminary medical opinion before visiting a medical facility, and in some cases they do not even have to visit the medical facility.
9. A possibility for additional insurance for a fee, e.g. supplementary cover: Additional insurance for dangerous sports and pregnancy, including coverage of newborns, can be arranged
10. Can insurance payments be made online/with a bank transfer/in cash? All options available
11. Cancellation fee costs:
    a) When the policy is cancelled within 2 months of taking out the insurance: 20%
    b) When the policy is cancelled at any point during the duration of the contract: 20%
12. Web: uniqa.cz/en

6] SV

To complete our list, we mention the SV insurance company. However, they have not supplied documents for comparison.

More notes

It should be remembered that existing diagnoses/used drugs (so called pre-existing conditions) are standardly not covered by the insurance. The coverage of these conditions is always an individual deal with the insurer – and not all of the insurance companies offer this service.

We also recommend contacting the insurer’s assistance service before visiting any medical facility – you will avoid potential troubles. This assistance service is also able to help you with finding a doctor.

This article was co-written with Tomáš Ryšánek, a financial expert from Pafin.

Do you need help choosing the right insurance company? Do you want an individual price offer, tailor-made for you? If so, contact Tomáš and his colleagues from Pafin Foreigners. They have been helping expats in insurance and finance since 2017.