Obligatory health insurance for non-EU foreigners in Czech Republic

2010-01-05

Non-EU long-term residents in the Czech Republic are now obliged to purchase commercial health insurance coverage worth no less than CZK 780,000 (€3,000). The new obligation arises from amendments introduced to Czech legislation on resident foreigners which take effect in January 2010. The regulations apply to non-EU foreigners who are self-employed in the Czech Republic, whereas those employed by Czech companies are included in the public health insurance scheme.
The new regulations have been introduced because the Czech Foreign Police – the forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs responsible for dealing with foreigners – were, in the past, accused of accepting fraudulent health insurance cover issued by companies which were unlicensed in the Czech Republic. This had unfortunate consequences for Czech hospitals, as they were not paid for treating foreign citizens, and this led to significant losses every year.
Czech human rights organisations believe, however, that the amended law discriminates against foreigners, as the insurance they have to purchase, estimated to cost CZK 5,000 (€200) per year, is much more expensive than the treatment costs incurred by health insurance funds. The organisations believe that if foreign self-employed people were insured under the same conditions as Czech citizens they would pay approximately CZK 400m (€15.24m) into the public health insurance system.