Health insurance for foreigners in the Czech Republic

Facts checked against the law and official pages on 10 October 2026.

Whether you are in the public system depends on two things: permanent residence, or a job with a Czech employer. Most other people from outside the EU need commercial insurance.

Which insurance do you have?

Public insurance

Permanent residence, any nationality: from the day the decision becomes final.
Employed by a Czech employer: from your first day of work until the job ends. Very small agreements (DPP, DPČ) below the earnings threshold don’t count.
EU, EEA, Swiss or UK citizen: through work here, or through your home country’s cover (EHIC or S1 form).
Citizen of a treaty country working here, such as the USA, Japan, Turkey or Serbia.
Children under 18 with long-term residence: automatically, from the day the permit becomes final. A parent registers the child within 8 days and pays CZK 3,024 a month (2026).
Babies born here to a mother with long-term residence: until the end of the month the baby turns 60 days old, and longer if residence is applied for within 60 days of birth.

Commercial insurance

Non-EU nationals with long-term residence who are self-employed, studying or not working, and family members who don’t work.
Children with long-term residence once they turn 18, unless they work.

Sources: Act 48/1997, §2, and VZP: healthcare for foreigners.

Commercial insurance for your residence permit

There are two kinds, and they are not interchangeable:

Necessary and urgent care (nutná a neodkladná péče): emergencies and repatriation only. Accepted only for applications made at an embassy, for the first 90 days after you arrive.
Comprehensive (komplexní): ordinary care at the insurer’s contracted doctors without paying on the spot. It must include preventive care, pregnancy and childbirth. Required for applications and extensions made in the Czech Republic.

Since 20 September 2023, any insurer authorised in the Czech Republic may sell it.

Before you buy, check that the policy

covers at least EUR 400,000 per insured event, with no co-payment
is comprehensive, unless you are only covering your first 90 days
runs for the whole period of your permit
doesn’t exclude accidents you caused yourself or that involved alcohol (the law doesn’t allow that)
has contracted doctors near where you live, including a GP and a dentist

Sources: Act 326/1999, §180j, and the Ministry of the Interior's insurance page.

Starting or losing a job

Public insurance starts on your first day of work. Your employer must register you with the insurer within 8 days.
It ends on the day the job ends. Without permanent residence, you then need commercial insurance again.
If your employer doesn’t register you, the law says you must tell the insurer yourself.

Changing your public insurer

There are seven public health insurers; the largest is VZP. You can change once every 12 months, always from 1 January or 1 July. Apply to the new insurer by 31 March (for July) or 30 September (for January). Newborns join their mother’s insurer. (Act 48/1997, §11a)

Fixing common problems

“The doctor says I’m not insured”

Ask your employer for proof they registered you with your insurer.
Report the job to the insurer yourself.
No card yet? Apply at any branch of your insurer. VZP will issue one even if your employer doesn’t.
Still a dispute? Ask the insurer for a formal decision on whether you are insured. You can appeal it.

“I was refused care”

Necessary and urgent care can’t be refused, even by a doctor without a contract with your insurer, and it must be free (VZP). A doctor contracted with your insurer may not charge you for covered care. If a practice asks for a fee, ask what exactly it is for.

“VZP says I owe money”

If you are in the public system and for a whole month had no job, no business and nobody paying for you, you pay the premium yourself: CZK 3,024 a month in 2026 (VZP).
Living abroad doesn’t stop this on its own. To stop paying you need a stay abroad of more than 6 months, insurance abroad for the whole time, and a written declaration delivered to VZP before you leave (VZP).
You can object to a statement of arrears within 8 days. Once the premiums are paid, you can ask for penalties to be waived for hardship.