Greek or Expatriate Pensioners Receiving a Foreign Pension: How They Can Obtain Health Insurance Coverage in Greece

We are very often asked by our clients—Greek nationals or expatriate Greeks who are pensioners abroad—whether it is possible for them to obtain healthcare coverage in Greece through e-EFKA. This is a crucial issue, since in most cases these are individuals who have worked very little or not at all in Greece (and therefore do not meet the requirements for receiving a pension from a Greek social security institution) and who wish to spend their retirement years in their home country, while at the same time ensuring that they have full access to the Greek healthcare system.

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 11 of Law 1276/1982, as amended by Article 10(5) of Law 2217/1994, and Ministerial Decision No. F40021/15895/1110/22-2-2006 of the Minister of Employment and Social Protection, Greek nationals or expatriate Greeks who receive a pension from any foreign source, provided that they reside permanently in Greece and are not insured against the risk of illness, are entitled, upon application, to be covered by the healthcare benefits-in-kind branch of the former IKA-ETAM, subject to payment of a contribution equal to 8.5% of the amount of their pension.

In order to exercise this right, the applicant must meet the following requirements:

• The applicant must be a Greek national or an expatriate Greek.
• The applicant must receive a pension from any foreign institution. This includes all pensioners, irrespective of the reason for retirement, the date on which they retired, or the terminology used by the relevant pension institution to describe the benefit, whether periodic or otherwise.
• The applicant must reside permanently in Greece.
• The applicant must not be insured against the risk of illness with any Greek insurance institution.

The relevant Ministerial Decision provides that:

“The monthly contribution rate payable by pensioners falling within the scope of Article 11 of Law 1276/1982 for coverage under the healthcare benefits-in-kind branch shall be set at 8.5% of the amount of the pension paid. The amount of the above contribution may not be lower than the amount corresponding to a pension of €520, adjusted annually by the applicable percentage increase in pensions.”

Optional insurance coverage terminates in the following cases:

• The insured person declares in writing that they no longer wish to continue their insurance coverage. In this case, the entitlement is permanently forfeited.
• The insured person fails to pay the insurance contributions for a period exceeding 24 months. In this case, the entitlement is lost.
• The insured person dies.
• The insured person ceases to be a pensioner of a foreign pension institution. If the pension is subsequently reinstated, the person may submit a new application together with all the required supporting documents. Provided that the relevant conditions are met, the person will be enrolled again.
• The insured person leaves Greece in order to settle permanently abroad. Residence abroad is considered permanent if it lasts for more than 24 months. If the insured person returns to Greece to re-establish permanent residence before 24 months have elapsed from the last month for which contributions were paid, their previous entitlement to optional insurance coverage is reinstated. However, they are also required to pay the contributions corresponding to the entire period during which coverage was interrupted, together with the applicable additional charges for late payment. Only where the insured person has remained abroad for more than 24 months may a new application for enrolment in the insurance scheme be submitted.

*Our law firm has extensive experience in all types of employment and social security law matters (dismissals, unpaid wages, claims for overtime pay and all types of employment-related claims, unlawful dismissal, representation in all types of employment disputes, calculation of social security contribution days, calculation of pension amounts, submission of pension applications, old-age pensions, disability pensions, survivor’s pensions, etc.). For further legal advice or to entrust your case to our law firm, you may contact us by telephone at +30 2313 079293 or by email at info@siopi-law.gr. Please note that, pursuant to the Greek Lawyers’ Code, the provision of legal advice without the corresponding professional fee is prohibited (Article 57 of Law 4194/2013).*

Dafni I. Siopi

Attorney at Law, LLM

Thessaloniki branch:

52 Tsimiski Street – Thessaloniki

+30 2313 0792923, +30 6977 568673

info@siopi-law.gr, dsiopi@siopi-law.gr

Athens branch:

134 Solonos Street – Athens

+30 211 0035843, +30 6977 568673

athens@siopi-law.gr, dsiopi@siopi-law.gr