Self-employed persons are participants of public health insurance and:
- pay premiums themselves in the form of a monthly deposit and following end-of-year accounting,
- are liable, within eight days of the commencement or termination
of self-employed activities, to notify this fact to the health insurer,
- are liable to present their new health insurer with a document stating the level of the deposit paid, should they change insurer.
Should self-employed persons not pay premiums
duly and on time, they risk incurring a financial penalty from the
insurer. The insurer will recover insurance payments and the penalty
from that person.
These persons have access to sickness insurance in the form of voluntary participation.
If self-employed persons do not participate in public health insurance, they must take out contractual insurance with VZP.
I want to do business in the Czech Republic. How can I get insured? What do I have to do to get insurance?
In this case, it is necessary to differentiate between a number of different situations you might find yourself in:
- You have Czech residency status. In this case, you are a
participant of the system of public health insurance. You are required
to inform your health insurer within eight days of the start of your
self-employment; the same applies for the conclusion of such
activities. You are the payer of the premiums. You pay premiums in the
form of a deposit and supplementary payments.
- You hold a self-employment visa. In this case, you must
gain contractual insurance from VZP. As of July 1, 2001, it is not necessary
to provide confirmation of health insurance for the whole period of
the visa in order to obtain it.
Contractual health insurance can be agreed for a period of six to 12 months under the General Insurance Conditions.
The insurance coverage starts on the day given as the
start of insurance coverage in the contract and terminates on the expiry
of the agreed period. VZP provides supplementary health care for payment
for 12 months. In the case of long-term contractual insurance, the
policyholder can request an extension of the contract for the next
period before the expiry of the existing period. The system of payment
remains the same, but the initial medical examination is not undertaken
(after three years).
Premiums for short-term contractual health insurance are paid as a lump sum the day before commencement.