Czech Republic out-of-pocket health care costs among lowest in EU

Prague, Feb 20 (CTK) – Czechs pay additionally for health care one of the lowest sums out of the EU member states and in 2017 it was 2.5 times less than the EU average, the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) has told reporters.

A Czech citizen paid 4,100 crowns for health care on average in 2017, while a year later it was 5,400 crowns.

In the share of health care expenditures in GDP, the Czech Republic was placed 17th in the EU 28 in 2017, statisticians said.

“The situation of households in Slovakia and Poland is similar. In Germany, households paid three times more (for health care) per capita than in the Czech Republic,” CSU education, healthcare, culture and welfare statistics section head Helena Chodounska said.

On the contrary, the inhabitants of Austria, Malta, Sweden and Finland paid the highest sum for health care from their own pockets. In 2017, it was more than 750 euros, an equivalent of 18,700 crowns, per capita.

Czechs paid the most for medicines and healthcare products sold freely or prescribed.

In 2018, a Czech spent more than 2,600 crowns on medicines on average, almost 1,500 crowns of which on those sold without prescription. Czechs spent one-fifth of the additional payment on dental care.

“People often pay extra for above-standard treatment and material, but it is also apparent that they cover the treatment themselves if their doctor does not have a contract with a health insurer,” Chodounska said.

Besides, Czechs paid some four billion crowns in total for glasses and other optical products.

On the other hand, Czechs lead the EU standings in the state expenditures share in health care, either directly from the budget or via the public health insurance. The 2017 average was 79 percent in the Czech Republic and a year later, it was 82 percent.

The highest share of 84 percent was in Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark and Sweden, while about 50 percent was in Latvia and Bulgaria and an even lower share in Cyprus.

In 2018, the Czech Republic’s total healthcare expenditures related to GDP were some 8.1 percent. In 2017, it was 7.2 percent, while the EU average was 9.8 percent.

The highest GDP share spent on health care was in Switzerland (12.4 percent), while France, Germany, Sweden and Austria had more than 10 percent. Slovakia, Poland and Hungary spent a lower GDP share on health care than the Czech Republic.