Health insurance

Health insurance of foreign nationals

1. Person with a permanent residence in the Czech Republic
Each person having a permanent residence in the territory of the Czech Republic, it means including foreign nationals, unless they are liable to legal regulations of another EU or EEA country or of Switzerland, must have health insurance compulsory by law in the Czech Republic. The  health insurance of these persons comes into existence when they granted a permanent residence in the territory of the Czech Republic and expires with death of the insuree or with declaration of his/her death or with termination of permanent residence in the territory of the Czech Republic.

2. Persons without a permanent residence permit in the Czech Republic
a) A foreigner from countries outside EU/EEA/Switzerland without permanent residence in the territory of the Czech Republic do participate in the public health insurance according to law as an employee of an employer having a seat or a permanent residence in the territory of the Czech Republic or fulfils criteria stipulated in European Directives (e.g. he/she is family member unprovided for of a family provider insured pursuant directives in the Czech system of public health insurance), or is a member of one of countries possibly, with which the  Czech Republic has concluded an international agreement on social security that regulates also the health insurance field (you will find the list of these agreements at www.cmu.cz in the International Agreements section). An employer is obliged to report to the health insurance companies, when a participation in health insurance of an  employee, who is a foreigner without permanent residence, comes into existence or is terminated just as he is obliged to report employment entrances or terminations of other employees. The health insurance company shall issue a certificate of green colour to this insuree and a  certificate of yellow colour or a classic EHIC to other persons who enter the public health insurance system because of other reasons.
A foreigner without a permanent residence has a possibility to arrange a  contractual health insurance in months, in which he/she does not participate in the public health insurance by reason of employment.
b) A foreigner from EU, EEA, and Switzerland without permanent residence in the Czech Republic may participate in the Czech public health insurance both based on employment by law or based on European directives (e.g. as a sole proprietor performing self-employment activity in the territory of the Czech Republic only, unprovided for family members of a person from EU working in the Czech Republic, even persons inactive economically in exceptional cases who prove satisfactorily the de facto domicile and focus of their interests in the Czech Republic and the like).

3. Special cases
Groups of persons specified by law are considered foreigners with a permanent residence permit in some special cases, namely:

• asylum seekers for the validity period of the asylum granting decision,
• children born to asylum seeking women for the period until the  decision on asylum or other mode of residence of the child is made,
• foreign nationals confided to substitutional care by a decision of relevant authority, if one natural person at least, to whom the  foreigner is confided, has a registered permanent residence in the  territory of the Czech Republic or the institution, where the child is placed, is located in the territory of the Czech Republic
• children of foreign nationals from the moment of birth to the legal force of the decision on residence permit, if children's parents have a  permanent residence permit and file an application for granting the  residence permit of the child within the due period stipulated by law,
• foreign nationals enjoying temporary protection,
• foreign nationals, who had received the decision of not granting asylum, in which an obstacle to leave country was pronounced pursuant the Asylum Act; the Police will grant visa for 90 days stay to such foreign nationals, which entitles them to stay in the territory for the  period of 15 working days from the day of visa granting,
• foreign nationals, to whom visa had been granted for a stay longer than 90 days with the purpose of tolerating the stay in cases specified in Paragraph 32 Article 2 of Act on Residence of Aliens, as amended (e.g. if leaving the country is inhibited by an obstacle independent on his/her will); the Police will set the visa validity for a period, which is needed necessarily, however, not for longer than 1 year,
• foreign nationals, to whom a long-term residence permit was granted with the purpose of tolerating the stay, if their stay in the territory is longer than 1 year and the reasons survive, because of which the visa for a stay longer than 90 days had been granted with the purpose of tolerating the stay in the territory.

Further information about the health insurance will be provided by Všeobecná zdravotní pojišťovna ČR (General Health Insurance Company of the Czech Republic), http://www.vzp.cz/en/index.php .

For further information in English please contact Brno Expat Centre, www.brnoexpatcentre.eu , info@brnoexpatcentre.eu.