I need to go to the doctor. How do I pay for it?

Released: 1/30/2019

Winter is not only time of skiing and other snow fun but also the period of time when people get more often ill and need to seek medical help. According to the National Reference Laboratory for Influenza the number of people suffering from acute respiration infection including influenza raised in the fourth calendar week by 25% compared to the previous week. The situation has not reached a nationwide epidemic yet but the number of infected citizens is rising and some schools have been closed already.

It goes without saying that it is best to prevent the illness but if you get ill you might need to seek medical help and you will need to use your health insurance.

As a foreigner working in the Czech Republic, you obtain health insurance with VZP insurance company. The payment for the insurance is automatically deducted from your salary. You receive an insurance card that you should carry with you and present it to the medical staff if needed. In this case, you do not need to pay for most treatments. The medicine prescribed to you might be covered by the insurance totally or partly - than you need to pay the difference.

There are seven insurance companies operating in the Czech Republic and you are allowed to change your insurance company twice a year. The insurance companies offer different benefits for their clients, such as contribution to sports activities, vaccination, support for future mums, etc, so it might be useful to search for the one that suits your needs.

If you are a non-EU citizen applying for a long term stay in the Czech Republic and you do not get a public health insurance (for example if you are a student) you are obliged to arrange comprehensive health insurance. With this insurance, you might need to pay first in cash to the doctor or for your medicine in the pharmacy. Afterwards, you can claim your money back from the insurance company. To do that it is important to keep all the receipts and invoices of the payments. To find out more about the comprehensive health insurance from Uniqa insurance company and detailed information on how to claim your money back please visit our website: https://www.forstudents.cz/our-services/health-insurance

picture source: From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository

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