Public health insurance for foreigners

By Czech law, health insurance is compulsory for all individuals, who have a permanent address in the Czech Republic, i.e. even foreigners, who have been granted permission for permanent residence in the Czech Republic.

 

1. Persons with permanent residency in the CR

By Czech law, health insurance is compulsory for all individuals, who have permanent residence in the Czech Republic, i.e. even foreigners, who have been granted permission for permanent residence in the Czech Republic.  Health insurance is established for these people when they receive permanent residency in the CR and expires with the death of the insured person or the declaration of their death or on the termination of their permanent residency in the Czech Republic.

2. Persons without permission for permanent residency in the CR

A foreigner without permanent residence only participates in public health insurance as an employee of an employer, whose registered office is in the Czech Republic. The condition is that the respective employment participates in sickness insurance (Section 2, Article 3 of Act no. 48/1997 Coll., as amended). Thus, a foreigner without permanent residency cannot participate in public health insurance without participating in sickness insurance as an employee. 

As in the case of starting and terminating the employment of other employees, the employer is obliged to notify the health insurance provider of the start and termination of participation in sickness insurance of an employee, who is a foreigner without permanent residency. The health insurance provider will issue a green card to this insured person.

A foreigner without permanent residency has the option of concluding so-called “commercial health insurance” with the health insurance provider during the months, in which he/she is not participating in public health insurance.

3. Exceptional cases

In certain exceptional cases, defined groups of individuals are considered foreigners with permanent residency. This involves:

• asylum seekers for the period of effectiveness of the decision on granting asylum, 
• children born to asylum seekers for the duration until a decision is made on their asylum or another type of the child’s stay,
• foreigners consigned to foster care based upon the decision of the respective authority, provided there is at least one natural entity, to whom the foreigner is consigned to, with registered permanent residency in the Czech Republic or the institute is located in the Czech Republic, in which the child has been placed,  
• children of foreigners, from the moment of birth until the legal rights to make decisions on permanent residency, provided they are children of parents, who have been granted permanent residency and the parents submit an application for permanent residency of their child within the term as stipulated by law,
• foreigners, who have obtained a decision on unwarranted asylum, in which the obstacle for emigrating was conveyed according to the act on asylum; the Police will grant such asylum seekers a visa for a stay of up to 90 days, which entitles the foreigner to a stay for the duration of 15 working days as of the issue date of the visa,  
• foreigners, who have been granted a stay sufferance visa for a stay of more than 90 days in cases specified in Section 32, Article 2 of the Act on Residence of Foreigners, as amended, (e.g. provided emigration is impeded by an obstacle independent of his/her freewill); the duration of the visa’s effectiveness will be determined by the Police for an absolutely necessary period of time, however for a 1-year period at the most,

foreigners, who have been granted long-term sufferance stay, provided their stay within the territory does not exceed 1 year and should the reasons persist, for which the sufferance stay visa was granted for a stay of more than 90 days within the territory.