Foreigners in the Czech Republic

The health care data shown are not any exhaustive information on the utilization of health care by foreigners and conditions of their health in the CR.

Table 6-1

The table concerns foreigners with both long-term and short-term residence in the CR, who effected health insurance with the GHIC CR, namely commercial insurance concluded voluntarily.

Most foreigners, who signed health insurance contracts with the GHIC CR, came from Viet Nam (22.3% of all the foreigners insured this way, i.e. 5 064 persons), the Ukraine (20%, 4 530 persons) and Russia (9.1%, 2 064 persons) and the health care was utilized most by Vietnamese (32.5% of all foreigners utilizing the health care, i.e. 1 654 persons), Ukrainians (19.3 %, 981 persons) and Russians (11.4%, 577 persons).

Tables 6-2 and 6-3

Data on the utilization of health care by foreigners are measured through annual report V (MZ) 1-01. It is compiled only by hospitals and regards foreigners that cover health care from health insurance policies concluded in the CR, insurance policies concluded abroad, in cash, or whose health care is reimbursed by state authorities (the Ministry of Health of the CR, Ministry of the Interior of the CR, Ministry of Justice of the CR, district offices, etc.). The figures also include asylum seekers accommodated in asylum establishments of the Ministry of the Interior of the CR, whose health care is paid by the Ministry of the Interior of the CR.

Foreigners, whose health care is paid for out of general health insurance, are not included in the report. The tables list data for hospitals under the Ministry of Health of the CR only. The numbers of persons utilizing health care paid for out of health insurance contracts, which are given in Table 6-2, differ from the GHIC CR data for the year 2002 listed in Table 6-1 on health insurance contracts of foreigners. This is due to the possibility of drawing on this contractual insurance by foreigners in more hospitals in the reference period and drawing on the health insurance contracts in health establishments other than hospitals.

In 2002, as in the previous years, Czech hospitals provided health care to 51 475 foreigners, most frequently to Ukrainians (17.3%, 8 911 persons), Slovaks (16.6%, 8 536 persons) and Vietnamese (11.8%, 6 070 persons). As for the EU member countries, it was Germans that sought health care most (9.1%, 4 701 persons). Citizens of the Ukraine and Germany paid for the health care mostly in cash, the health care provided to Slovaks was covered mostly from foreign insurance and the one provided to Vietnamese was paid for from contractual health insurance.

Costs of the health care provided in hospitals were 1.9% up on the year 2001 and were highest with Slovaks (18.7%) and Ukrainians (14.7%; in 2001, the costs of health care provided to these nationals were the highest). Costs of the health care provided to citizens of the EU member states were highest with Germans again (11%). The proportion of health care costs in total costs increased. Foreigners paid 71.2% of the costs of health care, of which 41% accounted for payments in cash. 28.8% cases remained unpaid, of which 12.3% after maturity date.

Health care was provided most frequently to foreign citizens in the Hlavní město Praha Region (40.9% of foreigners who utilized health care) and the Středočeský Region (8%). Regarding amounts of the costs, the Hlavní město Praha Region was the leader again (48.4%) followed by the Jihomoravský Region (6.8%).

Table 6-4

Table 6-4 on foreigners hospitalised in Czech hospitals covers hospitals of all government departments. It gives figures only on foreigners who were not assigned any birth number and who were not insured in the framework of general health insurance (i.e. only foreigners with temporary residence).

The most frequent reasons for hospitalisation of foreigners included injuries and poisoning cases followed health-status-affecting factors, contacts with health services (e.g. checkups and examinations which required hospitalisation, care after injuries, suspicion of a disease, etc.), diseases of the circulatory system, and diseases of the digestive system.

Tables 6-5 and 6-6

All types of abortions made in health establishments of the CR shall be reported on the form “Application for Induced Abortion - Report of Abortion and Ectopic Pregnancy”. This report is also filled in for female foreigners granted permanent or long-term residence in the CR. Female foreigners with temporary residence and female tourists are not monitored.

Between 2001 and 2002, the number of abortions increased to 2 751 - 6.8% up on the year 2001. Of this total, (403) 83.3% accounted for induced abortions. Therapeutic abortions increased to 177 (a rise of 24.6%) year-on-year.

The total number of abortions in female foreigners increased from 1 334 in 1994 to 2 751 in 2002, of which the number of legally induced abortions rose from 1 162 in 1994 to 2 292 in 2002. This rise corresponds to the rise in the number of foreigners settled in the Czech Republic. The number of abortions of female foreigners in total abortions in the CR also changed heavily between 1994 and 2002, namely from 2% to 6.7%, respectively. This rise is not only due to the rising number of foreigners in the CR, but it is also caused for the most part by a large drop in the number of abortions in Czech female citizens. Similarly, the evaluation of the data by region is also influenced by the concentration of foreigners in Prague and other large towns.

Table 6-7

This table gives the number of newly notified cases of tuberculosis (TB) cases in the CR broken down by the country of birth of patients (not necessarily foreigners).

There were 1 200 TB cases newly notified in 2002, by 11% down on 2001, of which foreigners accounted for 14%.

The data on the health care of foreigners in the Czech Republic for 2002 are released almost in the same extent as in 2001.

The comparison of the data on health care utilisation by foreigners for 2002 and 2001 suggests that the 1 349 more foreigners signed health care insurance policies with the General Health Insurance Company. At the same time, the number of foreigners utilising health care on the basis of these policies rose by 41%. Compared with 2001, it was Vietnamese that concluded the most of the health care insurance policies.

499 less foreigners sought health care in hospitals, but the costs of this care increased by CZK 7 million on the previous year. The number of hospitalised foreigners and the number of abortions of female foreigners rose. A downward trend was recorded for the number of newly notified TB cases. Omitted in Table 6-7 was the part concerning foreigners with notified TB cases (without permanent residence).

Generally, the health care provided to foreigners in the CR saw no substantial changes on the previous year.