Social and health insurance

The following web pages contain relevant and up to date information in the social insurance areas:

Pensions:
http://www.mpsv.cz/cs/3

Recent changes in pension insurance:
http://www.mpsv.cz/cs/621

Sickness insurance:
http://www.mpsv.cz/cs/7

Social security administration for employers:
http://www.cssz.cz/cz/zamestnavatele

Registration for health insurance

A citizen of another EU member state who is a self-employed person in the Czech Republic has to participate in the system of public health insurance in the Czech Republic and has the duty to pay the contributions to this system.

The deciding criterion is the real place of business, i. e. the state where the person is really running the business activities, not only the state where the person is formally registered.

In case of only limited activities in the Czech Republic (such as the cross-border provision of services) there is no duty to be insured in the Czech Republic, if the major activities of the person are executed in another EU member state. From the point of view of health insurance a self-employed person insured in one member state can temporarily provide the services in another member state for up to 24 months without having the duty to be insured in the Czech Republic.

The criteria for the assessment of the temporary character of the activities are similar as in case of cross-border provision of services. A significant condition is that the person still keeps the ties to the country of registration and the conditions for continuing of the business there. For the application of this procedure it is necessary to request the health insurance institution or another relevant institution of social security in the state of insurance for issuing the certificate A 1 which confirms that the person is insured in this member state.

There are 7 health insurance funds in the Czech Republic, each person insured has to be registered with one of them. Each insured person has the right of to choose free the health insurance fund. For the registration it is necessary to fill in the relevant form which is available at the branches of the health insurance funds or at their websites. The form can be handed over personally to the health insurance fund or can also be sent by post. The registration can also be made via the Single Registration Form together with the registration of the business at the trade-license office.

The list of the health insurance funds and their websites is as follows:

Všeobecná zdravotní pojišťovna ČR
www.vzp.cz

Zdravotní pojišťovna Ministerstva vnitra ČR
www.zpmvcr.cz

Oborová zdravotní pojišťovna
www.ozp.cz

Česká průmyslová zdravotní pojišťovna
www.cpzp.cz

Vojenská zdravotní pojišťovna ČR
www.vozp.cz

Revírní bratrská pokladna, zdravotní pojišťovna
www.rbp-zp.cz

Zaměstnanecká pojišťovna škoda
www.zpskoda.cz

A citizen of another EU member state who is insured in the Czech Republic is entitled to obtain the full scope of health care covered from the public health insurance. Health insurance in the Czech Republic covers health care not cash benefits in case of a sickness or injury. The sickness insurance for covering the cash benefits is administered by the Czech Administration of Social Security (Česká správa sociálního zabezpečení), the institution which is also in charge of the pension insurance.

A self-employed person who is insured in the system of public health insurance is obliged to pay the insurance contributions. In the first calendar year of the registration the minimum contributions are currently 1 823 CZK per month. This amount is valid for 2016, the minimum contributions usually change every year depending on the development of the average loan in the Czech Republic.

In the next calendar years after starting the business the self-employed person is obliged to pay the advance payments of contributions in the amount of 13,5% from the insurance base. The insurance base from which the contributions are paid is 50% of the incomes after deductions of the expenditures. For the year in question the average monthly income after deductions of expenditures in the previous calendar year is always relevant.

A self-employed person has a duty to deliver to the health insurance fund the so-called overview of incomes and expenditures (similar to a tax declaration). The date for the delivery of the overview is one month after the date for the delivery of the tax declaration, i. e. currently until the end of April. Based on this overview the real insurance base for the calculation of contributions is then set and the advance payments are settled according to the real contributions which are to be deducted. The self-employed person is however still obliged to pay the minimum contributions of 1 823 CZK monthly.

The contributions are payable until the 8th day of the calendar month following the month for which they are paid.