Public health insurance

Public health insurance begins at birth for persons with permanent residency in Slovakia and for dependent family members who were born to a policyholder in another EU/EEA Member State.

Slovak permanent residents are eligible for public health insurance from the date of receiving permanent residency or from the day following the termination of circumstances that qualified them for an exemption from compulsory health insurance.

Individuals without permanent residence in Slovakia are eligible for public health insurance from the day when they start meeting one of the conditions for public health insurance, despite not having permanent residency in Slovakia. 

 

Compulsory public health insurance 

Public health insurance is in general mandatory for every individual who has permanent residency in the Slovak Republic. A foreign national who obtains permanent residence in Slovakia shall sign up for public health insurance within 8 days. In some cases, exemptions apply.

Public health insurance is also compulsory for a person who does not have permanent residency in Slovakia, but meets one of the following conditions:

• works for an employer who has a registered office or a permanent establishment in Slovakia or is an organizational component of a foreign entity's business in Slovakia and receives an agreed monthly income from this activity at least in the amount of minimum wage;
• carries out or is authorised to carry out self-employment in Slovakia and has a residence permit in the territory of the Slovak Republic;
• is a student from another Member State or a foreign student studying in Slovakia under an international agreement;
• is a pupil or student who is a Slovak living abroad while studying at a school in Slovakia;
• is granted asylum;
• is a minor who is residing in Slovakia without any legal representative or another person responsible for his upbringing and is provided with care in a social services facility in which he is placed on the basis of a court decision;
• is a dependent family member, considered as such by the legislation of the Member State of their residence;
• is a foreigner detained in Slovakia;
• is in custody or serving a prison sentence;
• is a dependent family member who was born to the insured person in another Member State;
• is a dependent family member according to the legislation of another Member State of his/her residence;
• is a dependent child under 18 years of age with a residence permit in the territory of the Slovak Republic or entitled to stay in the Slovak Republic (in the case of a child born in the Slovak Republic to the parent with a valid residence from the day of submission of the application for residence for this child) and at least one legal representative or a natural person entrusted with the child’s care by a court decision has public health insurance in Slovakia;
• performs remunerated sports activity for a sports organization based on a professional sports contract;
• stays in Slovakia, is a scholarship holder under a programme of the Government of the SR, a programme implemented on the basis of an international treaty, an EU programme or a scholarship programme of the Slovak Ministry of Education, and if the scholarship has been awarded to them for a period of more than one month.

Exemptions from public health insurance

Public health insurance is not compulsory for a Slovak permanent resident who is neither employed nor self-employed in Slovakia and is:

• employed abroad and has health insurance coverage in the country where he is employed;
• self-employed abroad and has health insurance coverage in the country where he conducts business;
• staying abroad continuously for more than six consecutive calendar months;
• a dependent family member of a person who is subject to the legislation of another Member State under special regulations.

Payers of health insurance premiums

According to the Health Insurance Act, health insurance is premiums are paid by:

• an employee (shares the contributions with the employer);
• a self-employed person (in most cases pays contributions himself unless the law states otherwise);
• the employer (shares the contributions with the employee);
• the state.

The requirement for public health insurance in Slovakia under the Health Insurance Act does not mean that the insured person must also be the payer.