Does Bosnia and Herzegovina Have Universal Healthcare? How Health Insurance Works

Does Bosnia and Herzegovina have universal healthcare?

The pages read here answer this in terms of health insurance rather than a single national health service. They describe a compulsory health insurance system for each part of the country: in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Health Insurance and Reinsurance Institute of the Federation was set up under the Federation's Law on Health Insurance to carry out compulsory health insurance tasks of interest to all cantons, and it coordinates the work of the cantonal health insurance institutes in carrying out compulsory health insurance policy. Republika Srpska and Brčko District have their own health insurance funds, described in the sections below.

The Federation institute describes its mission as having a leading role in securing «universal access» to a financially sustainable basic package of health rights from compulsory health insurance. That is a statement of the institute's mission, not a figure for how many residents are insured: none of the official pages read here gives a coverage rate.

Health Insurance and Reinsurance Institute of the Federation of BiH: About us (O nama)

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina: cantonal health insurance institutes

In its answers to public questions, the Federation institute says that in the Federation of BiH the cantonal health insurance institutes are competent for exercising health insurance rights, including registration and deregistration. It adds that a person registered for health insurance in Republika Srpska should contact the Health Insurance Fund of Republika Srpska.

The Health Insurance Institute of Sarajevo Canton, which says it was set up to exercise rights and secure funds from compulsory health insurance, says that to use the right to health care under compulsory health insurance a person must acquire the status of an insured person. Its list of ways to become insured includes work (in companies, institutions, for a legal or natural person, at international organisations or at consular or diplomatic missions), receiving a pension, being unemployed under the conditions set by the law, and paying compulsory health insurance oneself under the law. Family members of an insured person, such as the spouse and children, are listed as insured persons.

Federation institute: Questions and answers (Pitanja i odgovori) · Health Insurance Institute of Sarajevo Canton: Compulsory insurance

Republika Srpska: the Health Insurance Fund

The Health Insurance Fund of Republika Srpska says compulsory health insurance there is regulated by the Republika Srpska Law on Compulsory Health Insurance and carried out by the Fund. To use the rights, the first step is registering for health insurance, followed by regular payment of health insurance contributions. Health care at the expense of compulsory insurance can be used in health institutions in Republika Srpska that have a contract with the Fund, provided that all contributions due have been paid.

The Fund groups insured persons into insurance holders (people in whose name the contribution is paid), their family members (insured through them, with no separate contribution), people insured only for occupational disease and injury at work, and foreign nationals insured on the basis of signed interstate social insurance agreements.

Health Insurance Fund of Republika Srpska: Compulsory health insurance · Health Insurance Fund of Republika Srpska: Insured persons

Brčko District: compulsory and voluntary insurance

The Health Insurance Fund of Brčko District lists insured persons under the District's Law on Health Insurance. The list includes employed people, the self-employed, registered unemployed people, and people who have temporary residence and work in the District for a foreign employer when they have no insurance with a foreign health insurance fund. Citizens of countries with which a social insurance agreement has been concluded receive health care to the extent set by that agreement. The spouse and children of an insured person are listed as family members with rights from compulsory health insurance; for children, the Fund's page sets age and schooling limits.

On voluntary insurance, the Fund says people not covered by compulsory insurance may voluntarily pay the contribution set by the decision on the contribution base and rate; after that payment, the Fund must provide them with rights identical to those of people insured under compulsory insurance.

Health Insurance Fund of Brčko District: Compulsory insurance · Health Insurance Fund of Brčko District: Voluntary insurance

Health insurance and residence permits for foreigners

Applications for a first temporary residence permit and for its extension are submitted to the Service for Foreigners' Affairs. Its page on stay says a temporary residence permit may be issued for up to one year, unless otherwise determined by the residence permit. For a permanent residence permit, the conditions it lists include at least five years of uninterrupted temporary residence before the application, sufficient and regular funds, confirmed adequate accommodation and confirmed health insurance, among other conditions.

The Service's checklist of documents for permanent residence includes evidence of health insurance in BiH. It says this can be a voluntary health insurance policy, a travel health insurance policy, a certificate that health insurance is provided under international social insurance agreements to which BiH is a signatory, a health card verified by the competent health fund in BiH, or a work permit issued in BiH.

For temporary residence, the Service publishes a separate checklist for each ground. The checklist for temporary residence on the basis of real estate ownership includes evidence of secured health insurance in BiH (for example an insurance policy, a copy of a health card, evidence of registration with the health fund, or evidence of paid individual or collective travel health insurance) and a recent medical attestation that the applicant does not suffer from a disease presenting a threat to public health in BiH. Other grounds have their own checklists, which should be read for the ground that applies. The two checklists carry no printed date. The Service's stay and entry pages refer to the Law on Movement and Stay of Aliens and Asylum, while its permanent residence checklist refers to the Law on Aliens.

Service for Foreigners' Affairs: Stay of aliens in BiH · Service for Foreigners' Affairs: Permanent residence, required documents (PDF) · Service for Foreigners' Affairs: Temporary residence, real estate ownership (PDF)

Short stays: means of subsistence at entry

For entry, the Service for Foreigners' Affairs says the minimum amount needed for a foreigner's subsistence during the intended stay, including the assets needed for health care, is 150,00 BAM or the equivalent in a foreign convertible currency for each day of intended stay. The page gives this amount «for the year 2013»; no later decision was found among the pages read here. It adds that a Border Police officer at the crossing point may ask for evidence of these financial means.

Service for Foreigners' Affairs: Entry of aliens to BiH

Visitors insured in a country with a social insurance agreement

The Health Insurance Fund of Republika Srpska says citizens of countries with which BiH has signed social insurance agreements can use health care in line with the agreement during their stay; its list includes Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Türkiye and the United Kingdom. Before arriving, they should obtain the necessary forms in their own country. Insured persons from Austria and Slovenia who hold a European Health Insurance Card can use it during a temporary stay in Republika Srpska, but only in health institutions contracted by the Fund; for now, insured persons from the other agreement countries must obtain the relevant forms before arriving.

This page of the Republika Srpska Fund describes its own territory. The official pages read here do not set out the same procedure for the Federation of BiH or Brčko District.

Health Insurance Fund of Republika Srpska: Foreign insured persons

What the official pages used here do not cover

The pages read here do not give the share of residents who are insured, the contribution rates or amounts for compulsory or voluntary insurance, or the price of private health insurance. They do not describe waiting times or the quality of care, and they were not used for emergency telephone numbers.

Only the Brčko District page on voluntary insurance was read; the official pages read here do not state how voluntary insurance works for foreigners in the Federation of BiH or in Republika Srpska. Only one temporary residence checklist (real estate ownership) was used, so this guide does not say what every other ground asks for. The entry amount is the one the Service's page dates to the year 2013. Silence on a topic in these pages is not a rule either way.

Related pages on this site

For the immigration pathways recorded for the country, see Immigration pathways in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For taxes, see the tax system in Bosnia and Herzegovina for expats.