Croatia – Health Insurance

Is health insurance mandatory for expats in Croatia?

Every person holding legal residency in Croatia is required by law to have health insurance, administered through the national healthcare system under HZZO. This obligation exists regardless of whether an individual intends to rely on public healthcare services — holding only private cover does not fulfil the legal requirement for most residents.

The obvezno scheme represents the compulsory baseline of public health insurance in Croatia. It is overseen by the state body HZZO and applies to all residents unless they qualify for an exemption. Those exempt include EU citizens or permanent EU residents who already hold state health insurance in another EU/EEA member state, as well as digital nomads. Holding a valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) issued by an EU/EEA country may satisfy the coverage requirement, particularly during the early weeks of a new stay in the country.

Even residents who prefer to use private healthcare or have no intention of accessing public services are still bound by the requirement to hold obvezno insurance through HZZO — unless they benefit from the EU/EEA exemption described above. In practical terms, this means the vast majority of non-EU expats, whether living in Croatia on retirement, self-employment, or family reunification permits, must register with and contribute to the HZZO system.

For employed residents, healthcare contributions are taken care of by the employer. Dependants of employees can access coverage through the contributions made by their working family members, provided they meet the relevant eligibility criteria. Those who are self-employed bear sole responsibility for making their own healthcare contributions.

How does the public health system in Croatia work?

Croatia operates a universal healthcare system in which the entire population is entitled to compulsory basic health insurance — the obvezno scheme — as prescribed by law and administered by the Hrvatski zavod za zdravstveno osiguranje (HZZO), the Croatian Health Insurance Fund. Unlike the UK’s NHS, which draws its funding largely from general taxation, Croatia’s arrangement is a social insurance model — structurally similar to Germany’s or France’s statutory health insurance systems — under which individuals and employers make regular, designated contributions in exchange for a defined set of healthcare entitlements.

The Croatian social health insurance framework is guided by the principles of solidarity and mutual support: contributions are proportionate to earning capacity, while access to fundamental healthcare services is determined by medical need rather than financial standing. As a result, higher earners contribute a greater amount, while lower-income residents and vulnerable populations receive equivalent levels of care for less.

Administration of the Croatian healthcare system is centralised at the national level, with hospitals operated by the state and medical centres regulated by the relevant county authorities. The Ministry of Health sets national health policy, oversees the entire health sector, supervises public health programmes, and coordinates with HZZO and county bodies on hospital services and workforce planning.

Primary care is delivered through a network of general practitioners, paediatricians, gynaecologists, and dentists based either in community health centres (dom zdravlja) or in private practices operating under contract with HZZO. Each patient must register with a primary care doctor, who serves as the entry point to the wider healthcare system and refers patients to specialist or hospital services as required. This gatekeeping function helps ensure that resources are used efficiently and that referrals are clinically appropriate.

Croatia’s health insurance architecture comprises three distinct tiers: obvezno, the mandatory public baseline; dopunsko, a supplementary layer that covers most of the co-payments associated with the base plan; and dodatno, a private supplemental product providing access to broader services such as specialist consultations and extended hospital care. Most long-term residents carry all three tiers in order to achieve the most comprehensive level of protection.

The standard of healthcare in Croatia is generally regarded as good. Numbeo’s Health Care Index places the country 21st out of 37 European nations, at a broadly similar level to Slovenia and Italy, with around 80 public hospitals and clinics serving a population of fewer than four million people.

How do expats register for public health coverage in Croatia?

Registration with the Croatian Health Insurance Fund must be completed within eight days of an approved temporary stay being granted. Employed individuals will have their registration handled by their employer. Those who are self-employed, retired, or dependants of a registered worker must complete the process themselves. The steps below relate to self-registration for non-EU nationals; EU/EEA nationals covered by an active EHIC should contact their nearest HZZO office for guidance tailored to their specific circumstances.

1. Obtain your OIB (Personal Identification Number). Before you can register with HZZO, you need a Croatian tax identification number called the OIB (Osobni identifikacijski broj). This is issued by the Croatian Tax Administration (Porezna uprava) and is required for almost all official processes in Croatia.
2. Secure your residence permit. In the process of obtaining residency status in Croatia, a basic requirement is to register for mandatory health insurance with HZZO, or be insured through employment contributions. Have your approved temporary or permanent stay document ready before visiting HZZO.
3. Gather the required documents. For initial registration, it is required to visit a regional HZZO administration office in person. Application forms can be found online. You will need your Croatian personal identification number (OIB), proof of residence or stay permission, and if you are working in Croatia, you will also need your work permit and your contract of employment.
4. Visit your nearest HZZO regional office. The Croatian Health Insurance Fund is divided into a Directorate and 20 branch offices. Visit the closest HZZO office to your registered address in Croatia and provide them with the information about your personal case — they will give you the latest information tailored to your specific situation. You can also contact HZZO on their toll-free line: 0800 7979 or by email at [email protected].
5. Complete and submit the application form. Two different application forms for obvezno are available, so be sure you have the right one. You can get the application form online or at a regional HZZO administration office. If you are unsure how to complete the form, HZZO staff can assist you in person.
6. Pay any back-payments if applicable. If you are a third-country national moving to Croatia, you will need to pay back-pay when signing up for the first time. If you are required to pay premiums for the previous year, you will need to show proof of payment as part of your registration. HZZO will give you the payment instructions.
7. Choose a GP and dentist. After registering with the Croatian Health Insurance Fund, every foreigner needs to choose their general practitioner or family doctor. A general practitioner or family doctor is the first point of contact for any illness except for emergencies, and will direct you to specialists when needed.
8. Receive your HZZO health insurance card. If you are applying for obvezno health insurance for the very first time, you will receive a health insurance card called Iskaznica zdravstveno osigurane osobe. Croatians usually call it zdravstvena iskaznica or zdravstvena for short. It can take some time for this card to arrive in the mail, but that does not mean you are not insured.

Always verify the latest documentation requirements directly with HZZO or the Croatian government portal, as requirements can change and individual circumstances vary significantly.

What costs are involved in the public health system in Croatia?

Funding for the public health system comes principally from payroll contributions, government grants, and patient co-payments. The precise amount any individual pays depends on their employment status, earnings, and residency category. Because rates are subject to revision, you should always confirm current figures directly with HZZO or the Tax Administration (Porezna uprava).

Employed workers: Employers are required to contribute to basic state health insurance and basic accident insurance at a rate of 16.5% of the gross salary (as of 2024) — also referred to as the “gross II salary” or the total employment cost borne by the employer. If you work for a Croatian company, your employer covers this contribution in full; it does not reduce your net take-home pay.

Self-employed workers: Those running their own business or working independently are equally required to pay health insurance contributions. Contributions under the obvezno scheme are made on a monthly basis, and the precise sum is calculated by the Tax Administration (Porezna uprava) based on each individual’s financial situation.

Third-country nationals and self-payers: Third-country nationals pay Croatian health insurance of between 90 and 100 euros per month (as of 2025). It is possible to pay it at once for one year in advance (a total of approximately €1,000). These figures should be confirmed with HZZO at the time of registration, as they are subject to change.

Co-payments at the point of care: The obvezno plan covers a broad range of essential services, though in many instances only 80% of the treatment cost is met by the fund, leaving a co-payment of 20% for the patient. The dopunsko supplementary tier is designed precisely to absorb these co-payments, which means that residents holding both layers effectively pay nothing at the point of use for most services.

Insured persons who take advantage of healthcare benefits in Croatia are obliged to cover 20% of their cost. However, the minimum co-payment cannot be less than €1.32 for treatment by a doctor providing primary healthcare (as of 2025). A daily fee of €17.70 applies for a hospital stay, with patients’ fees capped at €530.88. These rates are published by the European Commission and should be checked for updates at hzzo.hr.

From 1 January 2024, voluntary health insurance (including supplementary and additional health insurance) is non-taxable for employers up to €500 per year per employee, provided the employer concludes policies for its employees. This arrangement gives employers a meaningful incentive to fund supplementary coverage as part of an employee benefits package.

What does public health cover in Croatia include and exclude?

The public system is financed through mandatory contributions to HZZO and makes a wide range of essential healthcare services accessible, including general medicine, prescription medications, emergency care, ambulance transport, diagnostic services, and a foundational level of dental treatment.

Basic health insurance covers the costs of general and urgent healthcare services and examinations, treatment in the event of a workplace injury or profession-related illness, compensation for lost pay during sick leave, maternity or paternity leave, and transportation costs associated with the use of health services.

At the primary level, care is provided across general and family medicine, paediatric healthcare, women’s health, home nursing, in-house treatment, dental care, sanitary and epidemiological services, laboratory diagnostics, pharmacy, and emergency medical assistance. Access to secondary and tertiary services — including specialist consultations, hospital admissions, and surgery — is available but requires a referral from the patient’s registered GP.

The majority of prescriptions are either fully funded or subsidised under the obvezno plan. Certain non-essential medications, such as oral contraceptives, fall outside this coverage and must be paid for out of pocket. Medicines appearing on HZZO’s basic (osnovna lista lijekova) or supplementary (dopunska lista lijekova) drug lists are covered, though a co-payment may apply unless the patient also holds dopunsko cover.

Items commonly not covered — or only partially covered — by the public system include: elective cosmetic procedures, fees at non-contracted private clinics, most optical care such as glasses and contact lenses, advanced dental treatment beyond the basic tier, and specialist consultations sought without a prior GP referral. Although the Croatian health system provides a solid baseline, waiting times for certain treatments can be lengthy and the availability of some specialist services is limited in particular regions. For this reason, many expats choose to supplement their mandatory obvezno policy with private cover to secure faster access to specialists, broader dental and optical benefits, and coverage for medications not reimbursed under the public scheme.

Like many public systems, Croatia’s can face pressures including extended waiting times for specialist appointments, elective surgery, and diagnostic imaging such as CT and MRI scans. While steps are being taken to reduce these delays, waits of several months for certain diagnostic procedures are not uncommon. This reality is a significant driver behind the widespread uptake of supplementary and private health insurance among residents.

What are the advantages of international private health insurance for expats in Croatia?

Many expats choose to supplement their mandatory coverage with private health insurance primarily to broaden their access to specialist services and to secure protection for medical evacuation and repatriation — benefits that can be critical in the event of serious illness or complex medical needs. For those who may wish to receive treatment in their home country or who travel frequently, an international policy delivers a level of flexibility that a domestic plan simply cannot provide.

Outside the major cities, the availability of public healthcare facilities is more limited, and English-speaking medical staff within the public sector can be difficult to find. An international private plan, or a locally purchased dodatno policy, can unlock access to private clinics where multilingual staff and shorter waiting times are considerably more common.

Some expats living in Croatia choose specialist expat health insurance products designed expressly for people living abroad. These plans frequently offer more extensive coverage than local equivalents, incorporating benefits such as medical evacuation and repatriation that are rarely included in domestic policies. Many also provide coverage across multiple countries, which makes them especially attractive to frequent travellers or those whose work takes them across borders.

Dodatno is a private supplementary product available to residents who already hold the mandatory obvezno plan. Long-term expats in Croatia frequently advise carrying all three tiers — obvezno as the foundation, dopunsko for co-payment coverage, and dodatno for access to a higher standard of care — in order to achieve both comprehensive protection and the best possible value.

Insured expats who hold dodatno gain priority access to public hospital services, enabling them to bypass the lengthy queues that can form for certain procedures. Dodatno also covers the sistematski pregled, a comprehensive early disease detection examination for which waiting times in the public system can stretch to nearly two years.

How do international private health insurance plans work in Croatia?

Expats selecting health insurance in Croatia face a choice between local policies and international plans. Local insurers offer products tailored to the Croatian market and tend to have a more detailed understanding of the domestic healthcare landscape. International providers, on the other hand, generally offer regional or worldwide coverage and may be better suited to expats who have not yet decided on a permanent future in Croatia or who move frequently between countries.

While compulsory coverage is administered exclusively through HZZO, voluntary health insurance is made available by insurance companies that have obtained authorisation from HANFA — the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency — to underwrite and administer such products. It is worth verifying that any private insurer you consider is properly licensed by HANFA before committing to a policy.

An important prerequisite for taking out voluntary health insurance in Croatia is that the applicant must already be registered under the compulsory scheme. This means that local supplementary (dopunsko) and additional (dodatno) plans are structured to complement obvezno coverage, not to replace it. International expat policies offered by global insurers are separate products and may be purchased independently of the HZZO registration requirement.

Supplementary local coverage is available from Croatian-market providers including Allianz, Grawe, and Croatia Osiguranje, each of which offers policies that fill gaps left by the basic HZZO plan. For genuinely international coverage, providers such as AXA Global Healthcare, Cigna Global, and Allianz Care offer tiered expat products encompassing inpatient and outpatient care, dental and mental health benefits, and medical evacuation cover.

When evaluating private plans, the key features to assess include: whether the policy operates on a direct billing basis or requires upfront payment followed by reimbursement; the scope of inpatient versus outpatient cover; exclusions relating to pre-existing conditions; provision for mental health treatment; geographic scope — Croatia only, pan-European, or worldwide — and whether medical evacuation and repatriation are included. Understanding how a given insurer handles medical bills is particularly important: some pay the healthcare provider directly, while others expect the insured to settle costs first and then submit a claim for refund.

What should expats watch out for with health insurance in Croatia?

The gap between arrival and registration. Croatia requires all residents to carry obvezno, the state health insurance plan. Expats on a temporary or permanent residency visa must register for it after 90 days in the country. During this initial period — or any gap before your HZZO card arrives — you are at risk of being uninsured for non-emergency care. Maintaining travel insurance or a temporary international policy until your HZZO card is confirmed is strongly advisable.

Back-payments for third-country nationals. Non-EU nationals may be required to settle up to 12 months of back-payments to HZZO (approximately €850–€1,000) upon first registering for state insurance. This can represent a considerable and unexpected upfront expense. It is wise to factor this cost into your pre-departure budget and to confirm the current amount with HZZO in advance, as rates are subject to change.

Don’t confuse travel insurance with health insurance. Travel insurance is appropriate for short stays and visa applications, but it is not a substitute for the mandatory obvezno scheme once you become a legal resident. Generally, there are two kinds of health insurance in Croatia: travel health insurance for the purpose of short-term stay and visa issuance, and health insurance under the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO) for the purpose of temporary and permanent stay.

Pre-existing conditions and private cover. Expats should carefully examine the scope of any private policy they are considering, paying particular attention to whether it covers pre-existing conditions, dental care, and emergency medical evacuation. Many local dodatno plans and international policies either exclude pre-existing conditions entirely or price them at a significant premium. Reading the exclusions thoroughly before purchase is essential.

Always use contracted providers for public care. Under the Croatian public healthcare framework, patients must obtain a referral (uputnica) from a GP who holds a contract with HZZO before accessing specialist treatment or diagnostic services. Attending a non-contracted provider without such a referral means bearing the entire cost yourself, with no reimbursement from the state system.

Registering changes with HZZO promptly. Any change to your obvezno status must be registered with a regional office of HZZO. Changes must be registered within 8 days from the day the change occurs. This includes changes in employment, address, family circumstances, or departure from Croatia.

Rural areas have fewer facilities. Croatia’s healthcare system benefits from sound clinical training and well-equipped hospitals in the main urban centres, but unevenly distributed workforce and limited capacity in some facilities present ongoing challenges. If you are relocating to a smaller town, island, or rural area, research local healthcare provision carefully and consider private insurance that covers transfer to a larger medical centre when necessary.

Frequently asked questions: health insurance for expats in Croatia

Can I use my home country’s health insurance in Croatia instead of enrolling with HZZO?

Persons who, during their stay in Croatia, are insured under compulsory health insurance in another EU/EEA member state, Switzerland, the UK, or one of the countries with which Croatia has entered into an international agreement on social insurance (including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Turkey, North Macedonia and Albania), shall utilise healthcare services in the same way as persons insured by the Croatian Health Insurance Fund. However, if you are from a country outside these arrangements, your home country policy will not be recognised, and you will need to enrol with HZZO or pay for care privately.

Do I need private health insurance if I already have a work visa for Croatia?

Where you are engaged by a Croatian employer, that employer is legally obliged to register you with HZZO and cover your obvezno contributions, meaning mandatory public insurance is typically arranged on your behalf without any additional action from you. Private insurance remains optional but is widely recommended: dopunsko eliminates co-payments, while dodatno significantly reduces waiting times and expands the range of available services.

What is the difference between dopunsko and dodatno insurance?

Supplementary health insurance (dopunsko) is a type of insurance that provides coverage for part of the expenses up to the full cost of healthcare not covered by compulsory insurance — specifically covering co-payments. It covers all types of additional payments related to basic health insurance in all healthcare institutions, including primary healthcare, specialist examinations, diagnostics, laboratory tests, physical therapy, dental medicine services, and hospital treatment. Dodatno (additional) insurance goes further, offering access to faster specialist appointments, private clinics, and services such as comprehensive health screening examinations.

How do I find a doctor who speaks a language other than Croatian?

Locating an English-speaking — or otherwise multilingual — physician in Croatia can be genuinely challenging, particularly outside the major cities. Personal recommendations from friends, colleagues, or established expat contacts are often the most reliable route. For those not yet connected to a local network, posting in one of the many Croatian expat groups on social media platforms is a practical alternative. Embassies and consulates frequently maintain lists of recommended practitioners, and some international private health insurers can also assist policyholders in finding suitable providers.

What happens if I need emergency treatment in Croatia before I am registered with HZZO?

Emergency medical care is available to everyone in Croatia regardless of insurance status. Emergency medical care is available through public hospitals and clinics. However, if you are not insured by HZZO or an equivalent recognised scheme, you will be billed the full cost of treatment rather than the subsidised rate. If you don’t qualify for public health insurance cover in Croatia, accessing those services must be paid for in full on a pay-as-you-go basis, which typically means multiplying the standard co-payment by five. This can get very expensive, very quickly, so it may make more financial sense to take out private health cover instead.

Are dental and optical care included in the public system?

You should consult a dentist contracted to the Croatian Health Insurance Fund as their necessary services are free, though you will be charged a fee of €1.32 for each visit (as of 2025). Basic dental procedures — including extractions, fillings, and emergency dental care — are covered under obvezno, but cosmetic treatments and advanced restorative work fall outside this coverage. Optical care, including prescription glasses and contact lenses, is not part of the public system and must be funded privately, or through a dodatno or international insurance plan.

Do digital nomads in Croatia need to enrol in the HZZO system?

Digital nomads and permanent EU residents who hold active state insurance in another country are exempt from the obligation to join Croatia’s mandatory HZZO scheme. However, private health insurance is a legal requirement for the Croatian digital nomad visa and forms part of the application process. Holders of this visa must therefore maintain a valid private or international health insurance policy throughout their stay in Croatia, even though enrolment in HZZO is not required.

Where can I find the most up-to-date official information about health insurance in Croatia?

The definitive source of information on public health insurance in Croatia is the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO). You can receive information by visiting the local office or branch office of the Croatian Health Insurance Fund in person, by calling the toll-free number 0800 7979, or by sending an email to [email protected]. The official HZZO website is hzzo.hr, and the Croatian government portal provides further guidance at gov.hr. The Ministry of Health (Ministarstvo zdravstva) oversees national health policy and can be consulted for regulatory questions.