Who pays health contributions themselves
Every Bulgarian citizen without another citizenship is compulsorily insured in Bulgaria, also while living abroad. For most people someone else pays. You pay yourself only when nobody pays for you and you are not insured in another EU country.
- Employees — the contribution is deducted from pay and the employer pays it.
- Pensioners, children under 18 (under 22 in secondary school) and full-time students under 26 — the state pays.
- Insured in another EU or EEA country or Switzerland — nothing is due in Bulgaria, but you must give the NRA a document proving it.
- Nobody pays for you — you file declaration form 7 and pay €24.81 a month yourself by the 25th of the following month.
Living abroad: three different cases
You work in an EU country. Nothing is due in Bulgaria, but the NRA does not know it by itself. Unless you hand in form S041, A1, E104, E106 or another document showing the period of insurance, your status keeps empty months and the NRA may charge you. Submit it with a sworn translation at an NRA office, in person, through an authorised person or by post.
You live outside the EU for over 183 days a year. You may stop paying by telling the NRA you have left the country (Art. 40a). The exemption can cover past periods. While you do not pay, you have no rights in Bulgaria and no Bulgarian EHIC.
You have another citizenship and live abroad permanently. You are not compulsorily insured in Bulgaria. You may file a declaration under Art. 40c so your status is clear.
Examples
- You moved to the UK a year ago, filed nothing and paid nothing. 12 months are unpaid, so your rights are interrupted. Restoring them costs €269.92 plus interest. If you live there over 183 days a year, you can instead tell the NRA you left, backdated.
- You paid nothing for two years while living in Spain without work. The Art. 40a exemption does not apply in Spain, so all 24 contributions are due: €516.58 plus interest.
- You worked in Germany. You owe nothing, but the NRA status shows empty months. Hand in a document from the German health fund for the period and the charge goes away.
- You are returning from Canada after telling the NRA you had left. File the return application and choose: 6 months of contributions, or €595.39 at once for rights straight away.
How to check your status
- On the NRA e-services portal: the “Health insurance status” service shows months with no insurance data. You need a qualified e-signature or a PIC to log in.
- By phone to the NRA: 0700 18 700.
- At an NRA office, in person, with an ID document.
Empty months are not always a debt. If you were insured abroad, the correction is made at an NRA office with the document of insurance. There is no online correction.
Good to know
- Rights are restored from the date of payment. Treatment paid for in the meantime is not refunded.
- If an employer did not pay your contributions, the employer is liable, not you (Art. 109(4)).
- Contributions older than the last 60 months are not a condition for restoring rights.
- The NRA charges no fee for certificates and statements.