Foreign nationals seeking a job in the Czech Republic are entitled to health insurance paid for by the Czech state, the Ombudsman Office announced on its website yesterday. Ombudsman Stanislav Krecek made the ruling in response to a specific complaint, and it was accepted by the Ministry of Health.
The ombudsman was contacted by a counselling centre for foreign nationals in Plzen. The centre said that the labour offices had accepted foreign nationals onto the register of job seekers, but that health insurance companies were not reimbursing them for healthcare.
“After studying EU regulations, I have determined that foreigners who are duly registered with the Labour Office as job seekers are also entitled to public health insurance,” said Krecek. “The state covers the insurance payments at the moment. We cannot deprive them of something to which they are entitled under current EU legislation.”
He therefore called on the Health Ministry to ensure that this interpretation is corrected and communicated to health insurance companies. Representatives of the ministry replied that they guaranteed equal treatment of people not only when they were employed, but also when they were registered with the Labour Office.
“I am happy that we have set the record straight. We are now truly guaranteeing equal access to foreigners looking for work. In this case, the payment of insurance premiums is related to this,” the Ombudsman said.
