Overview

Czechia’s health system provides virtually universal membership and a broad benefits package. Stewardship and the health system policy process are vested at the national level, with the Czech Parliament responsible for legislation and the Ministry of Health, and subordinate agencies, responsible for regulatory, supervisory and to a certain degree the ownership roles.

Health expenditure amounted to 9.5% of GDP in 2021, or US$ (PPP) 4249 per capita, which is below the respective EU averages for that year. Spending on health from public sources accounted for 86.4% of the total in 2021, the highest level of public financing in both the EU and the WHO European Region. Out-of-pocket payments are relatively low, at 13% of health expenditure in 2021.

Ongoing reforms efforts to the Czech health system are focused on strengthening public health capacities after the COVID-19 pandemic, securing sustainable health financing, and making improvements to care provision while also addressing health workforce shortages.