Dear citizens of the EU Member States,
Welcome to the page that provides background information about the healthcare services provided in the Slovak Republic! By its content, the page is designed mainly for tourists and visitors who arrive on the territory of Slovakia for a short visit and who are not included in the Slovak medical insurance system. If you are interested in getting more detailed information, you will find at the end of this page the appropriate links.
During your visit in the Slovak Republic, the following situations may arise requiring the provision of healthcare assistance:
- occurrence of a life threatening health condition
- occurrence of a health problem
- spontaneous child birth
The Emergence of a Life-threatening Condition
If a health condition occurs, which threatens a person's life or any vital function, you should call the coordination centers within the integrated ambulance / rescue system, which will send over a mobile ambulance.
Coordination centers number: 112
Calls placed to this emergency number are free of charge and the line is available 24 hours a day and is accessible over any type of telephone. The ambulance service covers the whole territory of the Slovak Republic.
- ♥ Abusive use of this hotline is punishable by law.
Upon receiving a 112 call, the system automatically identifies the caller’s phone number and locates the address of the fixed phone line or the position of the mobile phone. If you know where you are, you should tell the 112 operator your location. The 112 emergency line allows you to communicate in the Czech language and, depending on the administrative territory, in Russian, Hungarian or in Polish. 112 hotline operators are partially able to also handle calls in English, German or French.
In addition to announcing you location, you should also describe to the operator the situation you are in, explaining him/her:
- what happened,
- number of people affected by the situation occurred;
- whether the people affected are consciousness and responsive;
- what it is exactly the affected person complains about.
Occurrence of a Health Problem
If a person is in a bad health condition requiring medical assistance, but which does not necessarily jeopardize his/her life, a pediatrician’s medical center is available ( for persons aged under 18) or a general doctor’s office ( for persons aged 18 or over). When necessary, the person will be sent to a specialist physician or to the hospital. For dental problems, you can go directly to a dental care center.
If you are having trouble locating a medical or a dental center, you should go to a hospital, where you will be directed to one such center.
Outside the normal consultation hours from, i.e. 7:00 to 15:30, if you have an acute health problem, please contact the first aid medical service. Depending on the age of the sick person, you should contact the first aid pediatrician service (if the person is less than 18 years old) or the adult first-aid medical care service (if the person is 18 years old or over). For dental health problems, you should consult the first aid dental service.
If the first-aid medical center is not open, or there are troubles locating it, the sick person should be seen by a doctor at the Admission Room of any hospital.
If the person concerned is sent to the hospital for admission, the hospital will provide comprehensive healthcare services, including healthcare items and medicines and will cater for the hospitalization needs of the patient (bed cloths, hospital clothes and towels). Patients are advised to bring their own toilet paper, pajamas and suitable footwear.
Upon discharge from hospital, the patient will be instructed on the medication he/she should take and will be provided the medicine for the next three days. Also, a hospital discharge notice written in Slovakian will be handed over to the patient, to be shown to the patient’s doctor in his/her country.
Spontaneous Child Delivery
In the case of spontaneous child birth, the pregnant woman should go to the Admission Room of a hospital. If the child birth shows complications, you should dial 112 to get in touch with an operator of a healthcare coordination center, which will have an ambulance sent over to the indicated address. Once at the hospital, the woman and the baby will be offered standard medical assistance during and after child delivery.
Pharmaceutical Assistance
Pharmaceutical assistance across the Slovak Republic includes: insurance, preparation, testing, storage and release of pharmaceutical drugs (except for preparation of transfusion drugs and sanitary items), drug package delivery, supply of specialised information about drugs administration, healthcare items and consultations related to drug prescription and drug therapy monitoring.
Drugs can be released against prescriptions or over-the-counter. Over-the-counter drugs can be bought in pharmacies without medical prescriptions. Patients will pay for their total cost. Drugs released against doctor’s prescription may be covered in whole or in part by the insurance house.
Healthcare items are released either against a prescription or over-the-counter. Over-the-counter healthcare items can be bought from pharmacies or from specialized centers and the patient will pay for their price in full. Healthcare items on physician’s prescription may be covered either in whole or in part by the insurance house.
Information on Medical Insurance and Rates
When entering the territory of Slovakia, the health insured EU citizen should carry the health insurance policy and produce evidence of such insurance, where necessary, in the form of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or a similar certificate. If the insured cannot prove that he/she has a health insurance policy, he/she will have to pay for any and all the ambulatory healthcare services and for the drugs and healthcare items he/she may need while on the Slovakian territory.
Based on the EHIC or a similar certificate, the EU health insured citizen is entitled to the healthcare as may be necessary for his/her proper health condition and only throughout his/her estimated stay in Slovakia. That means that he/she will not be forced to go back home faster than planned. Medical assistance services provided to any EU health-insured person who intentionally travels to Slovakia for medical treatment will not be considered as necessary healthcare.
When the visitor is seen by a doctor at a medical center or at a hospital or when he/she picks up drugs or healthcare items, the visitor shall have to show his/her identity document and a valid health insurance certificate - EHIC or similar.
Information about doctors who have contracts signed with insurance houses in the area the visitor travels to, as well as other information related to healthcare services available during his/her stay in the Slovak Republic, can be found at the following health insurance house subsidiaries:
When you visit the Slovak Republic, you may get into situations requiring healthcare assistance. Following enforcement of the EU and the EHP orders, one is required to resort exclusively to the medical assistance services provided by the medical institutions within the public health insurance network. These centers providing such services are identified with the logo of the contracting insurance house, displayed at the entrance to the respective institutions and centers.
Expenses related to the medical assistance services provided while on the Slovak Republic territory by the healthcare institutions within the public health insurance network will be refunded to the EU health insurance policyholders by the Slovak health insurance house, under the same refund conditions as applied to the Slovak health insured citizens, meaning that the EU health insurance policyholder will pays the same taxes as the Slovak health insurance policyholders.
Drugs and healthcare items are covered by the public health insurance. The regulations issued by Ministry of Health in the Slovak Republic establish exactly what medicines and healthcare items are compensated in full and which ones should be partially paid for by the patient.
In the case of private medical centers and hospitals, it is advisable to try to obtain prior information about medical assistance fees, as these may be partially covered or may not be covered at all by your health insurance policy.
- ♥ Since 2006 the Mountain Rescue Service is not covered by health insurance. Therefore, for mountain excursions and mountain sports, taking up a commercial insurance policy is recommendable.
- ♥ Health insurance policy does not cover transportation of the EU health insured citizen from Slovakia to the country where the citizen has taken up his/her health insurance.
The following charges are applicable in the Slovak Republic: