New Health Insurance Requirements for Long Stays in Prague

If you are not employed by a company registered in the Czech Republic, e.g. if you will be a student or work under a business licence then you will have to take out insurance.  I contacted Nora Gosmanová from assistance:2:expats (www.assistance2expats.cz) to explain the insurance requirements pertaining to visa applications in more detail.

VZP / PVZP
Maxima / AXA
Slavia
UNIQA
Victoria Volksbanken

VZP
This insurer offers two options for foreigners. The first option is called Standard Care or Necessary Care. (It depends on who you speak to.) This covers a person for the length of his/her stay for emergency care, sudden illness and injury, including dental procedures of this nature. The cost for this is 35 CZK per day, 900 CZK per month or 4970 CZK per year. The insurance can be organized only through these branches of VZP:

VZP Prague 1
Perštýn 6
Telephone: 221 668 111

VZP Prague 3
Orlická 2
Telephone: 221 751 111

VZP Prague 6
Vitězné náměstí 9
Telephone:

English language consultants are available to speak with. Their skills are not perfect and misunderstandings do occur on both sides. The consultant I spoke to got a little confused with numbers in English, so I had to double check figures. However, if you’re patient and speak clearly, they will answer all your questions. Somewhat confusingly, this insurance is not mentioned on their website in the section for foreigners. The information can instead be found with their daughter company Pojišťovna VZP. Please take note, the branch in Prague 7 is no longer open.

Maxima (in co/operation with AXA)
Getting through to Maxima on the phone can be tricky. After several days of calling, I was still unable to speak to a consultant. Instead, I went to a broker who offered their insurance. They charge 4800CZK. When I quizzed the sales rep on what it includes, she said it was the type of insurance the Foreigners’ Police accepts. If you want to know more, a summary of the policy is here.

Contact information
Address: Na dlouhém lánu 41, Prague 6
Telephone: 272 099 900
Email: info@maxima-as.cz

Slavia pojišťovna
It helps to know some Czech if contacting this company. Yet, in this case, the person was able to answer the question very clearly and accurately. Slavia offer two types of insurance called Health Insurance for Foreigners (Zdravotní pojištění cizinců). Both are for one year and both includes necessary care explained above. The first is valid only for the Czech Republic and costs 4750 CZK. The second is valid for the Schengen area and costs 5000 CZK. More information is available at their website.

Contact information
Address: Revoluční 1, Prague 1
Telephone: 255 790 111
Email: info@slavia-pojisteni.cz

UNIQA pojišťovna
I actually contacted these guys in writing and they were among the few to get back to me promptly and with the information I needed. They offer two types of tariffs F1 and F25. F1 is up to 1 million CZK and F25 is up to 1.25 million CZK. The fees are divided into months and depend on purpose (tourist or work) and age (under 18 or under 26 if a student and adult up to 60). Because of space it will not be possible to list the whole price breakdown, so here’s a sample. Prices are for one year.

You can download an English version of their terms and conditions from this page. It also has some basic information on insurance in Czech.

Contact information
Address: Evropská 136, Prague 6
Telephone: 800 120 020
Email: info@uniqa.cz

Victoria Volksbanken pojišťovna
The telephone consultant was very helpful and spoke clearly and gave me the information I needed. Victoria Volksbanken offer a product called ‘Welcome‘ which covers the above mentioned areas. There are two tariffs Standard and Plus. Standard offers coverage up to 1 million and Plus up to 2 million. The costs depend on the length of time. Below are the costs for one year.
Standard: 4700 CZK
Plus: 7500 CZK

Contact information
Address: Francouzská 171/28, Prague 2
Telephone: 221 585 111
Email: victoria@victoria.cz

Insurance Brokers
I can’t vouch for their reliability or prices and it helps to speak Czech or Ukrainian, but the offices are within stomping distance of the Foreigners’ Police branch at Koněvova 32. The two below seem to be the best because of the range of insurers and proximity.

Koněvova 32 (approximately). This is a small office beside the entrance to the Foreigners’ Police.
They offer VZP/PVZP, Slavia and Maxima. Their opening hours are Monday to Thursday 7:30am – 2:00pm.

If you’re looking for something more professional Hamilton Hudson (www.hamiltonhudson.com) come recommended from acquaintances and professionals. They offer VZP insurance at the same price as VZP. However, the service and communication skills are better. Please note visits are by appointment only.

Contact information
Address: Chopinova 2, Prague 2
Telephone: 222 254 442
Email: petra@hamiltonhudson.com

Regulation Fees:
One final word about regulation fees and health insurance. The regulation fees only apply to foreigners who have permanent residency or who are employed by a Czech company. In other words, it applies to foreigners who participate in the public health system. People who are excluded from the public health system, meaning those who require insurance from one of the private companies above, are exempt from paying fees. Of course, this does not stop some doctors asking for fees.