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.

Further information can be obtained on the IHIS CR’s website: http://www.uzis.cz

Methodological notes on the tables

Table 6-1. Health insurance contracts of foreigners: General Health Insurance Company of the CR; 1 January to 31 December 2005

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.

From the total number of foreigners having insurance contracts from the GHIC CR, foreigners from the EU 25 made up 6.4%. Most foreigners, who signed health insurance contracts with the GHIC CR, came again from Viet Nam, followed by Ukrainians. Vietnamese participated in the total number of insured foreigners with 35.4% (10 798 persons), Ukrainians 20.5% (6 236 persons) and foreigners from Russian Federation 8.1% (2 464 persons). The health care was utilized most by Vietnamese (27.8% of all foreigners utilizing the health care, i.e. 2 847 persons), Ukrainians (27.3%, i.e. 2 836 persons) and Russians (12.1%, i.e. 1 235 persons).

Tables 6-2. and 6-3. Utilization of health care by foreigners

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, regional 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 public health insurance, are not included in the report.

Tables 6-2. and 6-3. show data for hospitals for health sector in total. It means that besides hospitals coming under the Ministry of Health of the CR there are shown also hospitals under the Ministry of Defence of the CR and Ministry of Justice of the CR. In 2005, Czech hospitals provided health care to 166 852 foreigners. Of that, 32 242 of foreigners treated were from 25 member states of the EU. In comparison with the year 2004, there was an increase in the total number of foreigners, who were provided health care in hospitals. It was caused also by inclusion of those foreigners into the processing, who were mentioned only in “other countries EU” without better specification of the country of origin (it applies to the City of Prague). Those foreigners were not included in the processing of the annual questionnaire on utilization of health care by foreigners in the year 2004.

Health care was provided most often again to citizens of Slovakia (15.8%, i.e. 10 535 persons), the Ukraine (14.4%, i.e. 9 623 persons), Germany (10.2%, i.e. 6 792 persons) and Viet Nam (9.5%, i.e. 6 374 persons). Citizens of Slovakia, the Ukraine and Germany paid for the health care mostly in cash, the health care provided to Vietnamese was paid for from contractual health insurance. From the total number of foreigners treated, most of the patients were in the age group of 20 - 59 years (68.2%).

In 2005, the biggest number of foreigners was treated in the Hlavní město Praha Region (43.6%, i.e 29 115 persons), the Jihomoravský Region (10.6%, i.e. 7 092 persons) and the Středočeský Region (7.9%, i.e. 5 309 persons). The smallest number of foreigners treated was in the Zlínský Region (1.1%, i.e. 741persons), and the Vysočina Region (1.3%, i.e. 855 persons).

Health care provided to foreigners in hospitals of the CR required costs in the total amount of CZK 366 463 thousand. Of the total costs, costs on patients from the EU reached CZK 181 646 thousand. The same as in the last year, the costs of the health care provided were highest with Slovaks (23.2%), Ukrainians (12.4%), and Germans (7.8%).

The most often way of payment for health care foreigners used in 2005 was payment in cash (30.1%). In 2004, prevailing was payment from foreign insurance. The proportion of health care costs in total costs amounted to about 80%. For health care provided to foreigners, as at 31 December 2005, the total of CZK 31 883 thousand (i.e. 8.7% of the total amount of costs for health care) remained unpaid after maturity date.

Regarding health care provided to foreigners in regions (as for the amount of costs) – the Hlavní město Praha Region (42.3%) was on the first position and the Jihomoravský Region (11.8%) was the second.

Table 6-4. Foreigners treated in hospitals: by cause of hospitalization; 2005

Table 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, the same as in the previous years, included injuries and poisoning cases. Following were diseases of the circulatory system, health-status-affecting factors, contacts with health services (e.g. checkups and examinations which required hospitalisation, care after injuries, suspicion of a disease, etc.), and diseases of the digestive system. The least foreigners were hospitalised due to diseases of the blood, blood-forming organs and certain disorders involving the immune mechanism.

The total number of all the hospitalized in Czech hospitals was 2 458 thousand persons. Foreigners hospitalized (only foreigners with temporary residence) out of the total number of the hospitalized were only 0.4%.

Tables 6-5. and 6-6. Abortions of female foreigners

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.

In 2005, 2 238 abortions in female foreigners were reported, which is a slight decrease in comparison to the previous year (2 254), of which 1 747 (78.1%) were legally induced abortions. Number of vacuum aspirations decreased slightly again in comparison to the year 2004 (1 427 in 2005 and 1 460 in 2004).

From legally induced abortions (LIA) 7.3% were therapeutic abortions. Vacuum aspirations made up 81.7% of all LIA.

The total number of abortions in female foreigners increased since 1996 (from 1 778 in 1996 to 2 238 in 2005), of which the number of LIA increased from 1 580 in 1996 to 1 747 in 2005.

The evaluation of the data by region is influenced by the biggest concentration of foreigners in the Hlavní město Praha Region and the Středočeský Region, in which there is the biggest proportion of abortions within the entire CR.

In 2005, 37 785 abortions in Czech female citizens were reported; in total, i.e. including female foreigners, 40 023 abortions were reported. It means that the proportion of abortions in female foreigners in the total number of abortions reported in the Czech Republic was 5.6%.

Table 6-7. New notified TB cases in the CR; by the patient’s country of birth

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 1 007 TB cases newly notified in 2005, i.e. by 4.7% down on 2004, of which foreigners accounted for about 13%.

The comparison of the data on health care utilisation by foreigners in the Czech Republic for 2005 and 2004 suggests that by 6 108 more foreigners signed health care insurance policies with the General Health Insurance Company of the CR (GHIC CR). It was an increase by 25%, which is accompanied by a permanent decrease of the number of foreigners utilising health care on the basis of these policies.

11 021 more foreigners sought health care in hospitals in comparison with 2004. It is difficult to compare data for the years 2005 and 2004, because in 2005 the processing included also foreigners without better specification of the country of origin.

The same as the previous year, the number of cases of hospitalised foreigners increased. A downward trend continued in the number of abortions in female foreigners and newly notified TB cases.

Generally, in 2005, more foreigners were treated in Czech hospitals than in the previous year; however, costs spent on their treatment decreased. At the same time, the number of foreigners, who effected health insurance with the GHIC CR, is increasing every year, while the utilization is permanently decreasing (since 2003).