When arriving in Serbia, one of the main issues to be regulated is health insurance. The healthcare system of the Republic of Serbia includes a network of institutions where all citizens have access to complete healthcare.
Foreign citizens, as well as our citizens who live and work abroad, have the right to emergency medical assistance during their temporary stay in Serbia. The way of exercising the right to emergency medical assistance differs from country to country. You can read more about which rules apply to which country here.
The Republic of Serbia concluded international agreements defining cooperation in the field of health insurance with 25 states and 1 province. For more information on international agreements, click here.
Public health insurance functions through the compulsory insurance system, and for those who want additional insurance, there is also the option of private health insurance.
Public health insurance includes contributions that you pay, directly or through your employer, to the National Health Insurance Fund of the Republic of Serbia on a monthly basis. These contributions cover the costs of treatment in all public healthcare centres, outpatient clinics, hospitals and specialist clinics. Your health insurance covers all procedures, interventions and operations for which there is treatment in the Republic of Serbia.
Public health insurance in the Republic of Serbia is compulsory whether you are employed by a company or an independent entrepreneur. In case you are employed by a certain company, the monthly health insurance contributions will be paid by your employer. Also, your employer is obliged to certify your health insurance card after registering you in the central registry of insured persons.
As an entrepreneur, you are obliged to pay the contributions yourself. Also, you are obliged to register at the main National Health Insurance Fund institution and, on that occasion, certify your health insurance card.
If you enter into a work contract with a certain legal entity, that entity will be obliged to pay contributions for your health insurance. It is very important to note that contributions must be paid regularly, on a monthly basis, in order for your health insurance card to be certified, which allows you access to healthcare.
In addition to the insured person who pays, or for whom contributions for public health insurance are paid, the spouse also acquires the right to insurance in the event that they do not have a basis on which they can pay contributions for their healthcare themselves.
Children up to the age of 18 automatically receive health insurance, as family members. After reaching the age of 18, a person can have guaranteed health care either as part of a family in which one of the members is insured or as a person who does not generate regular income (unemployed person). With this type of health insurance, a person acquires protection until the age of 26.
In the Republic of Serbia, you can also opt for additional, voluntary private health insurance in one of the systems of your own choice that provides this service. Private outpatient units, hospitals and clinics provide a full range of healthcare services. You can acquire the services of private systems through additional health insurance or according to standardized prices for specific medical examinations and interventions.
The basis for a private health insurance policy is the contract you conclude with the insurance company, and if you already have this type of insurance abroad, the first step is to check whether your primary insurance company has a representative office in Serbia. You can find the complete register of insurance companies operating in the Republic of Serbia on the website of the National Bank of Serbia.
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