Expat insurance and health insurance in Estonia

Estonia’s mandatory health insurance is run by a single public body, the Tervisekassa (literally “health fund”), which succeeded the Haigekassa (“sickness fund”) in 2023 as part of a name change meant to emphasise prevention rather than just reimbursing care. The country is regularly cited for its centralised digital medical record system and its largely paperless public administration, which make it easy to check entitlements online (via the terviseportaal.ee or eesti.ee portals).

Funding relies on a 33% social tax on gross salary, entirely paid by the employer (no deduction from the employee’s net pay): 20 points fund pensions, 13 points fund the Tervisekassa. For 2026, the minimum monthly calculation base is set at €886, meaning a minimum social tax of €292.38 per month owed by the employer, even for part-time work or a salary below that threshold. A self-employed person pays this tax themselves in quarterly instalments, reconciled at the annual tax return, net of any social tax already paid by an employer over the same period.

Tervisekassa cover depends on residency status: a permanent resident or someone holding a residence permit or right is covered as soon as the social tax is paid on their behalf (by an employer or themselves), or under an equivalent status (student, retiree, dependant, certain protected categories), or through voluntary insurance taken out directly with the fund. A temporary resident, by contrast, is only covered if they hold a salaried job that generates social tax payments. The benefits basket covers family medicine (perearst), referred specialist consultations, hospitalisation and medicines on the reimbursement list, with modest co-payments: from €2.50 to €5 per consultation depending on the provider (with exemptions notably for children and pregnant women) and a daily hospitalisation charge capped at €25 per stay.

• EU citizen: no visa required, entry with a valid national ID card or passport, as Estonia has been a Schengen member since 21 December 2007.
• Stay longer than 90 days: registration on the population register (rahvastikuregister) and applying for a residence card with the police (Politsei- ja Piirivalveamet), on proof of a reason for the stay and health cover.
• Tervisekassa affiliation: automatic for any employee once the employer declares them and pays the 33% social tax (of which 13 points go to health), entirely paid by the employer.
• Self-employed: affiliation and direct payment of the social tax in quarterly instalments, reconciled at the annual tax return.
• Temporary resident with no salaried activity: no automatic Tervisekassa cover; voluntary insurance with the fund or private health insurance remains necessary.
• With no affiliation or European cover: care is billed in full by the facility, public or private, at a rate not uniformly disclosed publicly.
• Student: the EHIC is enough for a temporary stay (Erasmus-type); beyond that, supplementary student insurance or local affiliation remains recommended.
• Seconded employee: up to 24 months (extendable), stays on the French scheme via form A1, exempt from the Estonian social tax.
• Retiree: form S1 from their French pension fund before departure, for cover by the Tervisekassa with no new contribution of their own to pay.

No individual fine is set as such for lack of affiliation, but the employer is legally required to declare their employee; for the expat themselves, the risk remains primarily financial, with no help from the French embassy for uncovered care.

As Estonia has been an EU member since 1 May 2004, there is no classic bilateral agreement with France: coordination goes through the EU regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009, as for other member states. The country has also been a Schengen member since 21 December 2007 and was the first of the three Baltic states to adopt the euro, on 1 January 2011 (ahead of Latvia in 2014 and Lithuania in 2015).

• Temporary stay: the EHIC (Euroopa ravikindlustuskaart) entitles the holder to the same cover as a local insured person at providers contracted with the Tervisekassa, on presentation of the card and ID.
• Secondment: form A1, staying on the French scheme for up to 24 months (extendable), exempt from the Estonian social tax.
• Long-term move: Tervisekassa affiliation via the social tax (paid by the employer for an employee, or directly for a self-employed person); form S1 for a retiree, covered with no new contribution of their own.
• The EHIC covers neither repatriation, nor planned care, nor a long-term move; on return, a stay not covered in advance can be reimbursed retroactively via form S3125, based on the rates applied by the Estonian institution or the provisions of French legislation.

1. Before departure: notify French agencies of your departure (CPAM, CAF, France Travail, pension funds).
2. Seconded employee: request form A1 from your French fund before departure.
3. Retiree: request form S1 from your pension fund before departure.
4. Before departure or on arrival: request the EHIC to cover the transition period.
5. On arrival, for a stay longer than 90 days: register on the population register and apply for a residence card with the police (Politsei- ja Piirivalveamet).
6. Employee: check with your employer that the social tax (33%) is declared and paid as soon as the employment contract is signed.
7. Self-employed: register with the tax authority (EMTA) and pay the quarterly social tax instalments.
8. Register with the roll of French nationals living abroad (French embassy in Tallinn).