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Croatia’s state health care obvezno insurance, what it costs and what is included: Guide for 2023

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UPDATED: 31.3.2023.

In Croatia, there is both public and private health insurance that can be used with both public and private healthcare providers. HZZO, the state health fund, offers two options for health insurance:

  • Obvezno – Mandatory coverage for all residents
  • Dopunsko – Optional supplemental coverage

Since basic obvezno health insurance is required of all residents, it is important to understand what the costs and covers are before moving here. Be forewarned, it might give you sticker shock.

This guide can help you plan your personal healthcare costs in Croatia and it can also help future business owners plan for the cost of employees. Employers are required by law to cover the cost of their employee’s basic obvezno health insurance.

In this post, we cover:

The facts are these…

Guide on Croatia’s mandatory health insurance

What does obvezno state health insurance include

Obvezno health insurance is offered through the state agency HZZO. This healthcare coverage is made up of 2 parts:

  • Zdravstvena zaštita (health care)
  • Novčana naknada (financial compensation)

Health care

The health care side of obvezno refers to your ability to get subsidized healthcare treatment from doctors or facilities that are in the HZZO system.

Since it is subsidized, you will pay a small co-pay in most cases for the doctor or hospital visits as well as for most medications. To eliminate this co-payment, you must sign up for dopunsko supplemental coverage.

[Read: What is “dopunsko” and why you should have this health insurance]

With obvezno, you have a right to:

  • Primarna zdravstvena zaštita (primary health care)
    • Family doctor
    • Gynecologist
    • Pediatrician
    • Dentist
    • E-uputnica (electronic referrals for laboratory tests)
  • Specijalističko-konzilijarna zdravstvena zaštita (specialist-consultative health care)
  • Bolnička zdravstvena zaštita (hospital health care)
    • Hospital treatment
    • Uputnica (referral)
    • Putni nalog (travel warrant)
  • Medicines from osnovna lista lijekova (basic list called List A) and dopunska lista lijekova (additional list called List B) as determined by the HZZO
    • E-recept (electronic prescriptions for medicines that can be picked up at a pharmacy)
  • Dental aids from osnovna lista and dopunska lista determined by the HZZO
  • Orthopedic and other aids from osnovna lista and dopunska lista determined by the HZZO
  • Urgent or necessary health care in other EU/EEA member states
  • Urgent health care in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Turkey per an international agreement on social insurance – a form is required prior to travel

Financial compensation

In addition to standard health care, you also have a right to financial compensation related to medical issues.

The situations in which you may receive financial compensation from HZZO through your obvezno insurance include:

  • Salary compensation during temporary inability to work
  • Salary compensation due to the inability to perform work activities that prevent earning other types of income
  • Compensation for transport costs due to the use of health care from obvezno zdravstveno
  • Compensation for accommodation costs to a parent or a person who’s caring for a child during the child’s hospital treatment

Cost of mandatory obvezno state health insurance and who must pay for it

Basic health coverage through HZZO is charged depending on your situation, which may be one of the following:

Now, we’ll go over each individual situation and cover the health insurance premiums.

View our guides on signing up for health insurance here:

You are not employed in Croatia or don’t collect unemployment

This situation covers a good chunk of the foreigners living in Croatia. Perhaps you live here, but you earn an income that comes from abroad or maybe you’re just financially independent.

In this case, the rate you will pay is approximately 80 euros per month.

Depending on the basis of your residence permit, the police may only require some kind of travel insurance for your permit application. This is because it’s unclear if you’ll be approved for residency. Once you are approved, you will be required to register for state health insurance.

You are employed by a Croatian company

If you are an employee in Croatia, your company is required by law to pay for your obvezno health insurance as part of your salary. If you own a Croatian company, then you are required by law to pay yourself a salary, which will include pension and health insurance.

In this case, the cost of your health insurance is calculated based on your total salary. In terms of salary, there is neto and bruto. Neto salary is the net amount you get paid in your bank account each month. Bruto salary is the amount you receive on account, plus taxes and pension.

The health insurance premium is 16,5% of your bruto salary amount, then is added on top of bruto. For example, if your bruto salary is 800 euros, then your health insurance cost is 132 euros. This brings the total monthly employment amount that your employer must spend to employ you to 932 euros.

You can use this calculator to play with the bruto salary to calculate health insurance costs as well as pension and taxes. Please note that if you’re using this calculator to also estimate taxes, keep in mind that the percentage charged for “porez i prirez” varies from city to city.

[Read: How to apply for a work permit in Croatia]

You are an EU/EEA citizen

EU/EEA citizens can continue to use their existing state health care from their native country as long as they are paying into the system in their native country. However, they can only use their foreign state insurance in Croatia for urgent care. For regular, non-urgent health care, you must return to your home country. To get access to urgent care, you will need your EU/EEA health insurance card (EHIC).

[Read: What is a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)]

If you are an EU/EEA citizen that is no longer paying into the state health program in your home country after moving to Croatia, then you must start a new policy with HZZO.

In this case, the rate you will pay is approximately 80 euros per month. HZZO will request that you provide proof from the state health insurer in your home country that you no longer have a policy.

If you are a UK citizen, we’ve outlined how health insurance will work specifically for you post-Brexit here.

[Read: How EU/EEA citizens (and Croats) can sign up for Croatian state health insurance]

You are unemployed AND collect unemployment from Croatia

Unemployed people can request that their HZZO health insurance premium be covered by the state only if they notify HZZO within 30 days of losing their job (if they quit their job or got fired). It should be noted this only applies to those that lose their job at a Croatian company. As part of this process, you’ll also have an interview with HZZ (a different agency) upon losing your job.

You are unemployed AND married to an employed person

In certain scenarios, the spouse of an employed person can get health insurance at no additional cost based on their spouse’s employment. There are two scenarios within this case.

Scenario #1 – If you are a Croatian citizen, then you can be covered by your employed spouse’s health insurance.

Scenario #2 – If you are an EU/EEA citizen, then you must have a temporary OR permanent residence to be covered by your spouse’s health insurance. The application procedure is standard. Go to HZZO and apply for health insurance.

Scenario #3 – If you are a third-country national, you can’t be covered by your employed spouse’s health insurance regardless of your spouse’s nationality or your residence status.

You are working as a freelancer for a Croatian company

This is a rare case, yet still has its own unique rate for health insurance. It is a rare case because hiring a freelancer is, quite frankly, a pain in the butt for any Croatian company.

When hiring a freelancer, there must be a contract that defines the amount they will be paid and the term in which it will be paid. On top of this amount, the employer must pay for health insurance, taxes, and pension. There are two pension funds, so the company must pay into the pension funds for which the freelancer is registered. Some are only in one, some are in both. For all of these reasons, freelancers are usually just paid in cash to avoid this whole mess (which is not legal, for the record).

In the case where a freelancer is hired properly and legally, the health insurance cost is calculated as 7,5% of their bruto payment and is paid for by the employer.

You can learn more about hiring freelancers (or working as a freelancer in Croatia) here.

You are a digital nomad in Croatia

To qualify for residence in Croatia as a digital nomad, you must have private health insurance coverage for the entire term of your permit (up to 1 year). However, digital nomads are exempt from mandatory obvezno state health insurance in Croatia.

This means that you have the option to sign up for state health insurance after you are approved for residence, but it is not required as it is with other types of residence.

We wrote a detailed guide on how to apply for a digital nomad residence permit in Croatia. You can find it here.

You are retired AND earn a foreign pension

From the start, it is important to mention that HZZO will only know if you are collecting a foreign pension if you tell them. You are obligated to tell them. However, if you don’t know you are obligated to tell them, then it is possible nothing will ever come of it, especially if you are not receiving your foreign pension in a Croatian bank account. Please also note that you may be obligated to pay income tax on your pension depending on the treaty Croatia has with your pension country.

If you notify HZZO of your foreign pension, you will be charged 16,5% of your pension payment for health insurance since people with foreign pensions with prebivalište or permanent residence in Croatia are charged 16,5%. If you are receiving a pension from a western nation with a higher cost of living, 16,5% can be quite a hefty chunk of money.

Tax administration calculates the exact amount for each individual. So, the percentage of health insurance is 16,5% of your pension. Tax administration will calculate the exact amount on the basis of your pension, but the basis for calculation can’t be lower than the lowest monthly base and higher than the average salary. The lowest amount you may pay is approximately 80 euros and the highest amount is approximately 210 euros.

Contributions for people with a foreign pension are defined in Articles 130-134 of the Law on contributions (Zakon o doprinosima) which is available here.

Side note: Depending on the treaties Croatia has with your country, you may also be required to pay income tax on your foreign pension. If you wish to consult with a tax advisor to find out if you are liable for income tax, contact us.

You are retired AND earn a Croatian pension

The amount you owe for health insurance is calculated based on the amount of your pension in comparison to the average Croatian salary for that year. If your pension is lower than the average salary, you pay 1% of your pension for health insurance. If your pension is higher than the average salary, you pay 3% of your pension.

You are under 18 years of age AND the child of a Croatian or EU/EEA citizen

Children under 18 years have a right to health insurance (given that their parents or foster parents are EU/EEA citizens). The cost of their obvezno policy is covered by the state.

You are under 18 years of age AND the child of a third-country citizen

Children under 18 years whose parents are third-country citizens and temporary residents are treated just like their parents. They must have their own health insurance policies with a monthly premium of approximately 80 euros per month. The 1-year of back pay must also be paid for each child.

Only children of third-country citizens who are also permanent residents may be covered by their parent’s health insurance policy.

You are under 26 years of age AND a student

If a child goes on to college after high school and is under 26, they retain their right to health insurance through their parents or foster parents if those parents are EU/EEA or Croatian citizens or third-country nationals with permanent residence. The cost of their obvezno policy is covered by the state.

You earn less than the “low-income” threshold

Citizens with low income are exempt from paying health care premiums for obvezno. The low-income threshold is calculated based on the person’s total income in the previous calendar year per family member, as it compares to the average national salary.

If it is a family, income must be lower than 331,81 euros per family member per month or 45,59% of the average national salary. If it is a single person, income must be lower than 415,42 euros per month or 58,31% of the average national salary.

You are in a protected group

There are certain groups that can get free basic insurance through HZZO, including:

  • Children of dependents that are incapable of living and working independently
  • People with residency in Croatia that are incapable of independent life
  • Family members of dead or missing Croatian armed forces members
  • Disabled members of the Croatian armed forces

What to do after being granted permanent residence in Croatia?

Once you are granted permanent residence in Croatia, you have the same rights to health insurance in Croatia as Croatian nationals. This means that you are no longer treated as a foreigner in Croatia, and you must change the status of your obvezno health insurance. However, you don’t have to change your status if you are insured through the company where you work, i.e. your job.

[Read: Rights of permanent residents in Croatia]

To change the status of your obvezno health insurance, you must contact the HZZO and sign up for the obvezno health insurance on another basis. If you don’t notify the HZZO, HZZO will send you the Rješenje, i.e., a notification explaining you are signed off from health insurance and that you must change your status (sign up on another basis/category).

There are 59 categories on which people can sign up for obvezno health insurance in Croatia. They are defined in the rulebook called “Basics of insurance in compulsory health insurance” (Osnove osiguranja u obveznom zdravstvenom osiguranju), which is available here.

[Read: How to sign up for state health insurance in Croatia]

How to check the status of your Croatian state health insurance

If you are unsure of the status of your obvezno or dopunsko state health insurance, you can always check your policy on the HZZO web site here.

All you need is your OIB number. This page will tell you if your policy is valid or not.

Who must pay the first year of “back pay” when first signing up?

HZZO requires that certain people pay a year of premiums for the previous year when first signing up for state health insurance. This can be frustrating for some, but it is based on a pragmatic reason.

Once someone signs up for HZZO, they are completely insured. There is no waiting period until your health insurance kicks in. That means you can immediately get care or surgery or diagnostics, or whatever you need.

If you’ve just arrived in Croatia and immediately get surgery, you would not have paid enough into the system to cover that cost. The Croatian health care system cannot support that. To avoid a scenario where people cannot take advantage of the system, new insurance applicants must pay a year of health insurance premiums for the previous year when they were not in Croatia (in some scenarios).

Everyone who registers for Croatian state health insurance for the first time must pay 12 months of back pay, which costs approximately 800 euros. However, EU/EEA and Croatian citizens who have had an EU/EEA state health insurance policy for the previous 12 months can get out of this back pay.

In this case, you must bring a written confirmation to HZZO proving the exact time period during the previous 12 months that you were insured outside Croatia. If you were covered only a portion of the previous 12 months, then the back pay will be prorated.

For example, let’s say a German citizen was insured by German state insurance for 10 of the previous 12 months before signing up for HZZO. This person will have to back pay premiums for 2 previous months and not the whole year.

What if you neglect to sign up for Croatian obvezno?

Having obvezno health insurance in Croatia is required, but there is no fine or penalty for not having health insurance.

For example, if an adult person signs up for obvezno health insurance for the first time and they have never been employed and signed up for health insurance, they would have to pay it retroactively for one year or less, depending on the situation.

What is Croatian supplemental dopunsko public health insurance?

Dopunsko is an optional health insurance supplement that covers many co-payments that may be charged when visiting the doctor or filling prescriptions at the pharmacy.

There are fewer variables when it comes to the cost of dopunsko. The cost varies depending on your age and from where you get the policy. You can get it directly from HZZO or you can get it from a bank or private insurance company.

EU/EEA citizens who are using health insurance from their home country cannot get dopunsko because it is considered a supplement to the obvezno policy through HZZO. If you don’t have obvezno, you cannot get dopunsko.

To learn more about what dopunsko is, why you should have it, its cost, and who can get it for free, read this post.

Other health insurance options in Croatia

There is a higher level supplemental insurance above dopunsko called “dodatno”, but the is a private-only policy, so we won’t dive into the costs of this here since it isn’t public, but you can read about it in this post.

Another health insurance option is a travel health insurance called putno. To learn more about it and how to sign up for it, view this post.

View our other health insurance posts

Sources:
Doprinosi – Mirovina
Zakon o doprinosima

Please note: Information provided by Expat in Croatia is only for the purposes of guidance. It does not constitute legal or financial advice in any form. Croatian laws and bureaucratic rules often change, and each personal case is individual, so different rules may apply. For legal advice, contact us to consult with a licensed Croatian lawyer. For financial advice, contact us to consult with a licensed Croatian tax advisor or accountant.

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