European Health Insurance Card

As a person insured with the CHIF, you are entitled to a European Health Insurance Card, which enables you to use health care services during your temporary stay in EU member states, Norway, Iceland, Lichtenstein and Switzerland

Persons insured with the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (CHIF) are entitled to a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). 

If you are insured with the CHIF and suddenly become ill, hurt or have an accident during your temporary stay in the territory of another European Union (EU) member state, state of the European Economic Area (EEA—Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein) or, as of 1 January 2017, Switzerland, an EHIC gives you the right to health care that cannot be postponed until your planned return to Croatia, at the expense of the CHIF.

Costs covered by an EHIC

A European Health Insurance Card covers the costs of emergency healthcare, for which a physician from the healthcare institution abroad you turned for help determines that it cannot be postponed until your planned return to Croatia.

Emergency health care is also health care provided in connection with chronic or pre-existing illnesses if the goal of travel is not to receive treatment for these illnesses (for example, a blood pressure check), or health care services in connection with pregnancy and childbirth if the goal of your temporary stay abroad is not childbirth. Moreover, emergency health care services also include dialysis, oxygen therapy, asthma treatments, but to use these services, a previous arrangement with the healthcare institution of the country you plan to travel to is necessary.

Travel insurance

An EHIC is not an alternative to travel insurance and does not cover the costs of planned treatment. An EHIC is used directly at the contractual health care providers under the same conditions and at the same price as if you had insurance in the country of your stay, with the obligation of co-participation if this is paid by insured persons in the country of your stay.

How to obtain a card 

To obtain a card, you need to either contact the CHIF’s regional or branch office in person or submit an application via e-Citizens.
 
You can also apply for an EHIC via a queue machine (a system for electronic queue management) which have the additional possibility of the current production EHIC within less than a minute by entering the personal identification number (OIB) of the insured person. These queque machines can be found in the regional offices in Zagreb at the addresses Klovićeva 1 and Jukićeva 12, CHIF’s regional office in Split at the address Obala Kneza Branimira 14, CHIF’s regional office in Rijeka at the address Slogin kula 1 and in the CHIF’s regional office in Osijek at the address Ul. kralja Zvonimira 1B. By using a queue machine, you will be able to receive an EHIC immediately.

These cards are issued free of charge, but you are required to be duly registered for mandatory health insurance to be able to obtain it. Also, no special contribution for the use of health care abroad (the so-called “travel insurance”) is also not charged.

A European Health Insurance Card is valid until the date specified on it, which is usually three years. You can request issuance of a new card 30 days before the expiry of the currently valid one, and if you lose the status of an insured person, you are required to return the card to the CHIF.

A certificate as provisional replacement for an EHIC 

If, for some reason, you do not have your card with you while you are abroad, you may directly contact the CHIF’s competent regional branch and request issuance of a Certificate to you. You can also request that a Certificate be issued to you via the institution in your place of stay or you can pay the costs and request their reimbursement once you return to Croatia.

A certificate is issued in case:
 

• Of theft or loss of the card or if you, as a person insured with the CHIF, no longer have the card for some other reason (the issued certificate is valid until the end of the issued EHIC’s validity period),
• Of unexpected sudden travel abroad (the issued certificate is valid for the period of your stay in that particular country),
• When it is evident from the CHIF's records that you have a right to health insurance for less than 30 days (the certificate is valid until your insurance expires).

A certificate is issued by the CHIF’s competent regional or branch office immediately upon receipt of your request and will be valid between 1 and 90 days.