Gesy not available for EU-nonActive - is it compatible with EU law?

The legislation says MAY not must ..so Cyprus like every EU member state has an opt out... Which clearly they have taken.... like many things EU allows certain opt outs...

Further who in their right mind would relocate on a temporary basis without any health cover ..  those who can legally work are eligible to register join and benefit from GESY as they are paying contributions deducted at source. Those who don't work or have no right to work usually fall into 3 categories ... 1....Pensioners with S1 entitlement... 2... Early retirees not on state pension / No S1 entitlement and 3...those who can afford the private healthcare and dont bother with state healthcare

There are others who opt for a very cheap (under €200 pa) healthcare policy solely to satisfy immimgration requirements and simply pay as you go as the cover offered is seriously limited

Anyone can report and  ask for issues to be investigated via the EU PETI portal ..sadly it's painfully slow .. without doing so EU generally has no idea what is really happening on the ground at citizen level....

There are a lot of early retirees here who get caught when declaring their income for taxes and get taxed @ 2.65% of declared income and cannot register join or benefit from GESY but must pay for it..

It's still correct that you cannot make voluntary contributions to it either... I did have a chat with GESY/HIO about a year or more a out it and their reply was "not currently possible but may be at some time in the future."

@Philotimo

It's pretty typical for EU countries to allow economically non-active EU citizens to access their public health systems, while not allowing it for similar non-EU citizens (TCNs). Once someone (EU citizen or not) becomes a permanent resident (after 5 years) they cannot be discriminated against on this basis (i.e. being non-active).

However, EU countries are allowed to impose conditions and/or costs on non-active EU citizens (if access is granted) so that such a person does not become "an unreasonable burden on its public finances".

I'd say GESY was unusual in restricting it to PRs. But I'd guess that the Directives on Freedom of Movement allow some implementation discretion.

Plus, life's way too short to spend it fighting with a particular EU country over its unfortunate implementation. :-)

Personally, I registered as unemployed in Bulgaria for the exorbitant amount of 20 euros per month. This gives me full cover in the public health system with free or nearly-free treatment in public hospitals and heavily subsidized treatment in (most) private hospitals. And I have an EHIC for use in Cyprus and Spain (and other EU countries, of course, but I'm a resident of these two as well as Bulgaria).

My understanding was at retirement age UK citizens living in Cyprus have a S1 from the UK NHS overseas div  and once this is registered with the Gesy department local health care as given the the Cypriots is available. Cyprus apparently charge the UK for any costs incurred for the S1 holder.

This is all good it you can get registered on Gesy. I have the white medical card and went to the local doctor who filled in the forms and said " I will send this to Nicosia and you will get a confirmation letter of registration in 4-5 weeks" As usual 4-5 weeks in Cypriot terms is probably a year or never as it has been 10 weeks and still no letter. I will go to see the doctor and see if they have anything as the delivery of post in Tala is virtually non existent lol

thank you everyone for the replies. unfortunately I believe there is a bit of confusion in the interpretation of the text I shared (apart from gwynj) which properly interpreted it).

Let me try to be more clear:

• the right to pay voluntarily is exclusively for EU citizen and family members; UK is clearly not anymore impacted by a ECJ judgement after brexit;

• the domestic law (gesy) says MAY but the EU law (or better, the ECJ sentence) says it SHOULD, hence not a choice of the country; what the country can determine is the amount to contribute.

The above DOES NOT regard S1 or similar since the S1 is a registration in another health system (Cyprus is reimbursed by the foreign system issuing the S1)

Hope this message clarifies the point I made.

@gwynj

thank you for your answer.  I am not suggesting to start a legal battle on the point, just that apparently the non-sense of not having a voluntary option to enroll (while paying gesy) is also in conflict with EU law.

Re-reading your message I understand you have EHIC to cover you in Cyprus and Spain. This works if you need emergency treatment in CY and ES, NOT if you need access to planned treatment/outpatient visits, surgeries which are not emergential. Moreover EHIC is valid IF you DON'T have a residence permit in the country (e.g. you stay less than 3 months in CY and in ES), otherwise you need an S1 from Bulgaria.

So with your solution you have full coverage in BG and temporary travel coverage (for emergency) in CY and ES.

The right way to go in my opinion, spending more money clearly, would be to pay socials as self-insured partner in OOD in bulgaria as Foreign person (abour 130eur/month) and get an S1 for the country where you are resident.

What I am saying above is my (humble) interpretation of the law, clearly real-life (un)enforcement can influence it but I have no insider information so I prefer to go with the by-the-book approach.

It's Cyprus .... They have form for not enforcing the EU /ECJ legislation / ruling... its no surprise to me ... Malta was the same and is slowly changing but they do need to be pushed..and hard....sadly the EU mechanisms for notifying infringements and actually enforcing change is painful and extremely slow... And in my experience of over 16 years lies are still being told to them .....

The term "must" is commonly used to express any unavoidable requirement or obligation. On the other hand, "should" is used as a probability, obligation, advice, recommendation, conditional, and exceptional mood.

In other words a get out of jail free card

@Philotimo

Of course, I am confident you don't want to spend your life locked in a battle with GESY. That was just my flip way of saying you're probably right... but it probably doesn't matter. :-)

However, even if they SHOULD, and even if, in fact, it's CUSTOMARY in most of the EU... I don't think it's a MUST. That's because a lot of regulations related to freedom of movement (and portability of healthcare and pensions and/or access to local healthcare and pensions is clearly necessitated by freedom of movement) is derived from EU Directives. Directives are not laws, and are subject to local implementation in order to become so. While the implementation SHOULD be broadly in line with the Directive, there can be significant leeway, and sometimes even opt-ins/outs.

In the case of economically inactive (new) residents, it's clearly financially risky to give them unfettered rights to local healthcare. And the EU Directives clearly allow a country (such as Cyprus) to insist on either contributions and/or private health insurance for such residents. My guess was that Cyprus decided they would insist on private health insurance (this is one of the conditions for EU Citizen Registration anyway for economically non-active).

In which case they'd could say you can get access to GESY and make contributions...  BUT you must also have a private health insurance policy (to reimburse GESY). And they'd keep saying this for 5 years, until you become a PR (when this condition would be prohibited). This is in the spirit of the Directives, but has a whole load of bureaucracy. So they cut out the middleman (GESY) and the red tape, and leave you to get private health insurance and sort it all out directly with your insurer. And instead say y'all come back and see us with your PR!

@Philotimo

I take your point that S1s and EHIC are different. They are, but they're part and parcel of portability of healthcare necessitated by Freedom of Movement. And they're handled by reimbursement by the EU country that issued them. Reimbursement is pretty much guaranteed, so GESY doesn't need to worry if you're economically inactive or otherwise skimping on your contributions.

You're also quite right that S1s and EHICs are accepted in all EU countries, and that EHICs are intended for accidents and emergencies rather than routine/elective care.

I added my personal case, as it shows an EU example where an economically inactive new resident was allowed to immediately join the public health system, and make the same contribution as any other unemployed person. At 20 euros per month, it's the best deal in EU healthcare... and actually the best deal I've ever had for healthcare during my world travels.

Being fully covered in the Bulgaria system, and having an EHIC for use elsewhere is arguably  a compromise. But I doubt it's a compromise many folks would rather spend 130 euros a month to overcome! Or 260 euros a month in my case, as I guess you'd recommend that I do it in both Cyprus and Spain. :-) As I pop over on cheap Wizzair/Ryanair flights, it's hardly a big deal to fly back to Bulgaria for elective treatment. What's important is that I AM covered if I NEED treatment while in Cyprus.

If I were spending 9 months a year in Cyprus, and 3 in Spain/Bulgaria it might be prudent to revisit the decision. But as it seems to be more like 10-ish in Bulgaria, it's perfectly appropriate (and entirely typical of almost any EU resident with a 2nd or 3rd home elsewhere).

Moreover, the Bulgarian public health system is surprisingly good. It is in no way embarrassed by GESY (the contrary, I suspect). In a key addition, Bulgaria differs from Spain, Cyprus (and most EU countries) in that (most) private hospitals are affiliated with the system and majority reimbursed by it. That means I can walk into almost any private hospital and get private treatment (i.e. VIP care, private room, immediate operations) and pay pennies for it. I would be nuts to give up a Bulgarian private elective tomorrow in order to go sit in a GESY queue for the same op, but in a public hospital, 6 months later. :-)

@Philotimo

Good morning

I joined « Expat.com » few days ago while searching for a way to book an appointment with Paphos immigration. Our forum friend “Toone” gave me the proper answer. God bless him!

After a little over 5 years residency in Cyprus (just a little over 184 days presence/year) it was time to apply for the MEU3 in order to be a Gesy beneficiary as I didn’t qualify without that Permanent Residency Certificate.

Explanations: I am French by birth. My father, a research scientist, moved to California with my family when I was 8 years old. I worked in the US as a crop dusting pilot until I got drafted and ended up flying for Air America in Laos & Vietnam. When that stupid war ended I decided to move to Canada. So I am now a citizen of France & Canada.

Canada is not part of the S1 and I have never worked in France so I don’t qualify for an S1 from there either.

I understand that somehow Cyprus is free (or feels free) to set legibility conditions for Gesy.

But why should I have to contribute to a system that I am not part off. This is a total ripoff! It’s like paying for merchandise that you never received!

On top of that, because I am an EC national, I couldn’t qualify for the fast track investment program in order to get the MEU3. A Chinese or a Russian could get one by investing 300k€ in Cyprus. Crazy when you think about it.

Someone told me that Cyprus insurance Companies lobbied hard and tried to torpedo the adoption of the health insurance scheme and were afterward rewarded with a small bone to chew by obliging folks like me to purchase a very expensive private health insurance...but I never did!

Before moving to Cyprus I went around the world for seven years with my sail boat. I insured the boat because it would have been very expensive to replace, but not myself because of the crazy premium. I took a one year cheap mandatory “immigration insurance” to get the MEU1 and that was the end of it!

You’ve already done much of the research and its excellent. I suggest you write the Cyprus Ombudsman (a woman by the way) It will be very interesting to have a look at the answer. After, you may e-mail the reply and attached correspondence to a bunch of MP’s in Brussels...just for the fun of it. Maybe someone might be interested to have a look at it.

Have a good day and keep the good work