Health Insurance

To have a valid health insurance for the whole stay in the Czech Republic is obligatory. Also, it’s one of the requirements for obtaining visa, therefore we recommend that you purchase an appropriate health insurance as one of the first steps before arriving to the Czech Republic. In case you arrive earlier than your employment begins, you must have alternative (travel, commercial or other) health insurance.

Although there are more types of health insurance provided by various companies, as a foreigner we suggest you get insured at Všeobecná zdravotní pojišťovna – VZP (The General Health Insurance Company), which is the largest health insurance company in the Czech Republic. You can use the links bellow to see the recommended health insurance options.

The Health Insurance provides the following types of care for free:

  • preventive care, diagnostic care
  • ambulant and hospital care, including rehabilitation and care of chronic diseases
  • dental care – only the basic material and treatment is covered
  • medicines and medical aids – partially paid by you
  • patient transport
  • spa care

Only a small part of healthcare, such as a cosmetic surgery without any health reason is excluded from the health insurance. You are obliged to pay the regulatory fee of 90 CZK for emergency care that was provided by the first aid medical service including first aid medical service provided by the dentists.

All employees or employers based in the territory of the Czech Republic participate in the health insurance system. Employees are automatically covered by public health insurance for the whole duration of their employment, and the contribution altogether is 13.5% of the employee’s gross income (paid together by the employee and employer -the employee pays 4.5% and the employer 9%). The employer should then pay regular insurance premiums on the employee’s behalf.

If you are employed on a special kind of contract called Agreement to Complete a Job (DPP – Dohoda o provedení práce) and you get less than 10.000 Kč (CZK)/month, by law the health insurance is not paid, and you need to purchase your own.