HEALTH & SOCIAL INSURANCE

• Public health insurance:

Foreigners in the following categories have the most access to public health insurance (provided by VZP insurance company)

• All foreigners who have a permanent residency permit (PR),
• Foreigners whose employer has a registered office or a permanent residency permit in the Czech Republic (the employer pays the insurance payments regardless of whether the foreigner has a visa or a long-term residency permit),
• Foreigners with short-term permits are advised to have insurance from the initial day of entry up to the whole duration of their stay,
• Citizens of the European Union and their dependents (if certain conditions are met),
• Other specific groups (for example, subjects of international protection, higher government officials),
• Public health insurance (either taken by you or provided by the employer) will cover all your primary and emergency health conditions or treatment. They would not cover cosmetic treatments (dental, implants, Ophthalmology) and medicines. Please read the terms and conditions from the insurance website when you would like to obtain some treatments other than primary or emergency health.

• Private health insurance (also called travel medical insurance), which establishes a purely private legal relationship, is intended mainly for the following categories of foreigners (except for foreigners with a permanent residency permit):
• Self-employed persons and other entrepreneurs,
• Economically inactive family members of employees,

The requirements for travel medical insurance for stays of up to 90 days (Schengen visas) are specified in the Community Code on Visas, an EU legislative law.

• Insurance before coming to the Czech Republic

** If you apply for a long-term visa or long-term residency permit at a Czech embassy abroad (in your home country), you must have private health insurance (Maxima, Allianz, AXA, etc.) covering necessary and urgent healthcare, as well as transportation and repatriation costs in the event of death. The insurance claim for a single event must be at least EUR 60 000. The duration of the insurance may be from 3 months to 1 year, according to regulations set by the embassy.

** The insurance policy may not exclude coverage for injuries caused by the insured’s intentional action, fault, or contributory fault, including incidents caused by the insured’s ingestion of alcohol, narcotics, and psychotropic substances.

• Insurance after reaching the Czech Republic
• Suppose you are already in the Czech Republic and are applying for a long-term visa, a long-term residence permit, or an extension. In that case, you are required to have comprehensive private medical insurance.
• This indicates that the insured will receive health care without having to pay for treatment directly and that the goal of this care is to maintain the insured’s health condition as it was before they obtained insurance.
• This insurance shall not exclude dispensary and preventive care, as well as care and maintenance related to the covered mother’s pregnancy and childbirth.
• Private health insurance that provides complete health care can only be purchased in the Czech Republic from an insurance firm authorized to offer it (VZP).
• Proof of private medical insurance is not required if you can demonstrate that the costs of health care will be covered by an international agreement or in another manner, such as by a written undertaking by a legal entity, a statutory body, or an undertaking in an invitation form verified by the Foreign Police.
• If you have employment, your employer will pay your social insurance premiums.
• If you are an entrepreneur, you must pay for social insurance on your own.

** If you do not pay health and social insurance premiums up to date, according to  Czech legislation, your application for a visa or residency permit may be denied, or your existing visa or permit may be cancelled. It is necessary to carry your Insurance card or document with a valid date with you.

** Note: This Information is written as of July 2022 and contains up-to-date information. Before taking on any procedure, please make sure to closely examine the website https://www.mvcr.cz/.