How to apply for a nursing benefit?

Table of contents

What is a nursing benefit?

The nursing benefit is provided to an insured person during personal and all-day care for a person or personal and all-day care for a child until they reach the age of eleven, or until the age of eighteen if it is a child with a long-term adverse health condition.

Who can be the person receiving care?

For the purpose of obtaining the benefit, you can care for:

• a sick relative in the direct line (parent/adoptive parent — child, grandparent — grandchild, great-grandparent — great-grandchild),
• a sick child who is not your relative in the direct line (e.g., a child adopted or placed in care based on a decision of the relevant authority, or a biological or adopted child of your spouse),
• a sick sibling,
• a sick spouse, or
• a spouse’s sick parent/adoptive parent.

To qualify for the nursing benefit, you will need a certificate from the relevant doctor stating that the health condition of the person being cared for:

• necessarily requires care by another natural person due to the need for short-term personal care in the person's natural environment (hereinafter referred to as "short-term nursing benefit") or
• requires nursing by another natural person due to the need for long-term personal care in the person's natural environment (hereinafter referred to as "long-term nursing benefit").

Short-term nursing benefit is, in cases stipulated by law (for conditions see below), also provided for the reason of personal and all-day care for a child until the age of eleven, or until the age of eighteen if it is a child with a long-term adverse health condition.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

To prove a child's long-term adverse health condition, an assessment from the relevant Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family on the long-term unfavourable health condition or a decision on the child's severe disability is required. If you do not have such an assessment/decision, you can request the Social Insurance Agency to assess the long-term adverse health condition.

Am I entitled to the nursing benefit?

The following are entitled to the nursing benefit (short-term and long-term):

• an employee,
• self-employed person subject to compulsory sickness insurance,
• a voluntarily sickness-insured person,
• a natural person in need of personal and all-day nursing or personal and all-day care after the termination of sickness insurance within the protection period (see Protection period (SK)).

What requirements do I have to meet?

You are entitled to the nursing benefit if you meet the following requirements:

• You personally and all-day care for a sick family member (see who can be a care recipient),
• You personally and all-day care for a child until they reach the age of eleven, or until they reach the age of eighteen if it is a child with a long-term adverse health condition, if
  • a quarantine measure or isolation has been ordered for the child,
  • the pre-school facility or social services facility where the child is provided with care, or the school that the child attends, has been closed or ordered to be in quarantine by decision of the relevant authorities; or
  • the natural person who cares for the child has fallen ill, has been ordered a quarantine measure, isolation, or has been admitted to inpatient care in a health care facility, and therefore cannot care for the child,
• you are insured for sickness, or you are within the protection period after the termination of your insurance,
• if you are an employee:
  • You do not have income from work performed that is considered an assessment basis paid for the period of providing nursing benefit (what matters is the period for which the income is paid and whether it is the income from performed work).
  • the payment of sickness insurance contributions by the employer is not monitored,
• if you are a self-employed person:
  • You have paid the sickness insurance contributions on time and in the correct amount (see Condition of payment of sickness insurance contributions (SK)).
• If you are voluntarily sickness-insured:
  • You have paid the sickness insurance contributions on time and in the correct amount (see Condition of payment of sickness insurance contributions (SK)).
  • you have been sickness-insured for at least 270 days in the last two years before the need for personal and all-day nursing care or personal and all-day care arose (for these purposes, any other terminated sickness insurance, in addition to your current voluntary sickness insurance, will also be counted towards this period).
  • The 270-day sickness insurance period does not include the employee's sickness insurance period during which the employee had no assessment base for paying sickness insurance contributions because they had no income, including the period of interruption of insurance; however, other periods excluded from the decisive period (e.g., due to the duration of temporary incapacity for work) are included.

Please note that if you are claiming the nursing benefit from multiple sickness insurances, you must meet the specified conditions for each of them.

How do I apply for a short-term nursing benefit? (If your doctor does not electronically confirm your need for short-term personal care via the eZdravie system)

If the doctor does not confirm the need for short-term personal care electronically via eZdravie, but instead issues you a paper form "Application for Nursing Benefit”, the procedure to apply for the short-term nursing benefit is as follows:

1

You can apply for short-term nursing benefit by submitting an Application for Nursing Benefit (due to the illness of the person being cared for)

An application for nursing benefit, confirmed by the relevant doctor, if you are applying for the nursing benefit due to the sickness of the person being nursed (confirmed by the doctor of the person being cared for), or due to the care of a child up to 11 years of age, or a child up to 18 years of age with a long-term adverse health condition, if a quarantine measure/isolation has been ordered for the child (confirmed by the paediatrician), or if the natural person who cares for the child has fallen sick, has been ordered a quarantine measure/isolation, or has been admitted to inpatient care in a medical facility and therefore cannot care for the child (confirmed by the doctor of the person who cannot care for the child).
The application for nursing benefit will be issued to you by an authorized doctor upon establishing the need for personal and all-day nursing or personal and all-day care.
From your doctor, you will need:

• Part I of the form – Application for Nursing Benefit when the need for nursing/care arises. Before sending it to the Social Insurance Agency, fill in and sign the "Insured Person's Declaration" on the back of the form.
• Part II of the form – Confirmation of the End of the Need for Personal and All-day Nursing/Care at the end of the need for nursing/care. Send this confirmation to the branch of the Social Insurance Agency that pays your nursing benefit.

2

If you are an employee, you can also submit the application

to your employer.

3

Send the application to the Social Insurance Agency branch

relevant according to:

• the registered office of your employer, if you are an employee,
• the registered office of your last employer, if you are an employee within the protection period,
• your permanent residence, if you are self-employed person or a voluntarily sickness-insured person.

Contact information can be found here: Contacts — Branches of the Social Insurance Agency.

How do I apply for a short-term nursing benefit? (If your doctor confirms the need for short-term personal care electronically via eZdravie)

If the doctor confirms the need for short-term personal care electronically via eZdravie (from 1 August 2026), the procedure is as follows:

1

You can apply for nursing benefit by submitting the designated form either electronically or in writing

• Electronically

  Via the eServices portal: You can use this service after logging into eServices (Insuree’s Electronic Account), clicking on the link, and filling in the form here: Submitting an Application for Nursing Benefit (short-term) (SK).

  To use the service and sign the form, a repeated login is required upon the prompt of the e-Services.

• In writing

  • By postal service: The application is available on the website of the Social Insurance Agency here: Application for Nursing Benefit - short-term (SK).

    You fill in the application and send it to the address of the Social Insurance Agency branch. You can find the contact details here: Contacts — Branches of the Social Insurance Agency.

  • In person: You can deliver the completed and signed application in person to the Social Insurance Agency branch, or you can obtain the form at the branch, fill it in, sign it, and submit it right there.

    You can submit the application to the Social Insurance Agency branch relevant according to:

    • the registered office of your employer, if you are an employee, or
    • the registered office of your last employer, if you are an employee within the protection period,
    • your permanent residence, if you are self-employed person or a voluntarily sickness-insured person.

Contact information can be found here: Contacts — Branches of the Social Insurance Agency.

If you submit your Application for Nursing Benefit via a web form and you want to claim the entitlement from multiple sickness insurances, you must submit this application for each insurance relationship separately. When submitting the application electronically, you submit only one application indicating all insurance relationships from which you request the benefit entitlement. You can claim the entitlement to a short-term nursing benefit for a period that falls within the period of the need for short-term personal care confirmed by the doctor of the person being cared for. After receiving the application, the Social Insurance Agency will request the data on the doctor-confirmed need for short-term personal care from the eZdravie system.

2

If the Application for (Short-term) Nursing Benefit does not include a confirmed end date up to which the insured person is claiming this benefit

If the Application for (Short-term) Nursing Benefit does not include a confirmed end date up to which the insured person is claiming this benefit, the entitlement to the payment of the short-term nursing benefit is conditional upon submitting the form on time, either electronically or in writing:

• Electronically

  Via the eServices portal: You can use this service after logging into eServices (Insuree’s Electronic Account), clicking on the link, and filling in the form here: Notification of changes in facts decisive for entitlement to sickness benefit, its amount and payment (SK).

  To use the service and sign the form, a repeated login is required upon the prompt of the e-Services.

• In writing
  • By postal service: The notification is available on the website of the Social Insurance Agency here: Notification of changes in facts decisive for entitlement to sickness benefit, its amount and payment — SHORT-TERM (need for nursing/care confirmed by a doctor) (SK).

  • In person: You can deliver the completed and signed notification in person to the Social Insurance Agency branch, or you can obtain the notification form at the branch, fill it in, sign it, and submit it right there.

    You can deliver the notification to the Social Insurance Agency branch relevant according to:

    • the registered office of your employer, if you are an employee, or
    • the registered office of your last employer, if you are an employee within the protection period,
    • your permanent residence, if you are self-employed person or a voluntarily sickness-insured person.

Contact information can be found here: Contacts — Branches of the Social Insurance Agency.

In this notification, the insured person states the date until which they provided nursing/care (reporting the termination of benefit receipt) or reporting that the nursing/care continues at the end of the calendar month. You can also use this form to report other changes that occurred since submitting the application — whether you received a wage/wage compensation from the employer while providing care, or you can report the interruption/end of childcare, or other changes affecting the entitlement to the nursing benefit.

How do I apply for short-term nursing benefit due to care for a child until the age of 11 years or a child until the age of 18 years with a long-term unfavourable health condition in the event of the closure of the facility (from 1 August 2026)?

1

In the event of a facility closure, you do not need a confirmation from a doctor, but from the facility itself. You can submit the application either electronically or in writing

• Electronically

  Via the eServices portal: You can use this service after logging into eServices (Insuree’s Electronic Account), clicking on the link, and filling in the form here: Submitting an Application for Nursing Benefit due to the closure of a school, preschool facility, or social services facility (SK).

  To use the service and sign the form, a repeated login is required upon the prompt of the e-Services.

  When submitting the application electronically, you submit only one application indicating all insurance relationships from which you request the benefit entitlement. You can claim the short-term nursing benefit for the period that falls within the period of the facility's closure.

• In writing
  • By postal service: The application is available on the website of the Social Insurance Agency here: Application for nursing benefit due to the closure of a school, pre-school facility, or social services facility (SK).

  • In person: You can deliver the completed and signed application in person to the Social Insurance Agency branch, or you can obtain the form at the branch, fill it in, sign it, and submit it right there.

    You can deliver the notification to the Social Insurance Agency branch relevant according to:

    • the registered office of your employer, if you are an employee, or
    • the registered office of your last employer, if you are an employee within the protection period,
    • your permanent residence, if you are self-employed person or a voluntarily sickness-insured person.

Contact information can be found here: Contacts — Branches of the Social Insurance Agency.

If you submit your Application for Nursing Benefit via a web form and you want to claim the entitlement from multiple sickness insurances, you must submit this application for each insurance relationship separately.

You can claim the short-term nursing benefit for the period that falls within the period of the facility's closure.

2

If the Application for Nursing Benefit does not include a confirmed end date up to which you are claiming this benefit, the entitlement to the payment of the nursing benefit is conditional upon submitting the form on time

If the Application for Nursing Benefit does not include a confirmed end date up to which you are claiming this benefit, the entitlement to the payment of the nursing benefit is conditional upon submitting the form on time, either electronically or in writing:

• Electronically

  Via the eServices portal: You can use this service after logging into eServices (Insuree’s Electronic Account), clicking on the link, and filling in the form here: Notification of changes in facts decisive for entitlement to sickness benefit, its amount and payment (SK).

  To use the service and sign the form, a repeated login is required upon the prompt of the e-Services.

• In writing
  • By postal service: The notification is available on the website of the Social Insurance Agency here: Notification of changes in facts decisive for entitlement to sickness benefit, its amount and payment — SHORT-TERM (closure of the facility) (SK).

  • In person: You can deliver the completed and signed notification in person to the Social Insurance Agency branch, or you can obtain the notification form at the branch, fill it in, sign it, and submit it right there.

    You can deliver the notification to a branch of the Social Insurance Agency relevant according to:

    • the registered office of your employer, if you are an employee, or
    • the registered office of your last employer, if you are an employee within the protection period,
    • your permanent residence, if you are self-employed person or a a voluntarily sickness-insured person.

Contact information can be found here: Contacts — Branches of the Social Insurance Agency.

If the date until which the facility is closed was not confirmed on the application for nursing benefit, you are required to state in the form the date until which the school/preschool facility/social services facility was closed, and you must attach a confirmation from this facility stating the end date of its closure.

You can also use this form to report other changes that occurred since submitting the application — whether you received a wage/wage compensation from the employer while providing care, or you can report the interruption/end of childcare, or other changes affecting the entitlement to the nursing benefit.

How do I apply for a long-term nursing benefit? (If your doctor does not electronically confirm the need for long-term personal care via the eZdravie system)

If the doctor does not confirm the need for long-term personal care electronically via eZdravie, but issues paper application forms for long-term nursing benefit instead, the procedure for applying for the long-term nursing benefit is as follows:

1

You can apply for a long-term nursing benefit with the following forms

• Confirmation of the need for personal and all-day care and of the initial provision of personal and all-day care services – Application for a ‘Long-Term’ Nursing Benefit / Proof of the period of personal and all-day care provision to claim exemption from the obligation to pay social insurance contributions. You need this form first and it serves as an application for nursing benefit and also as confirmation of the need for care. It will be issued to you by:
  • a doctor at the hospital where the patient has been hospitalized for at least 5 days, if the application is submitted due to the need for nursing care of the patient after hospitalization, specifically on the day of the sick person's discharge from the hospital. Please note that the need for care in this case must last for at least 30 days.
  • a palliative care doctor, i.e. a doctor with a specialisation in palliative medicine, clinical oncology, geriatrics, internal medicine, gastroenterology, haematology and transfusion, hepatology, cardiology, nephrology, neurology, pneumology and phtiseology, rheumatology, gynaecology, anaesthetics and intensive medicine, algesiology, surgery, orthopaedics, trauma surgery or paediatrics, when the patient enters the palliative care stage, i.e. a patient who is at the end-of-life stage or at the terminal stage of the disease, on the day when the need for treatment is identified.
• Confirmation of the provision of personal and all-day care by another person – Application for a Long-Term Nursing Benefit / Proof of the period of personal and all-day care provision to claim exemption from the obligation to pay social insurance contributions. This will be issued by the general practitioner of the person cared for if you want to rotate with another person during the care.
• Confirmation of the duration of personal and all-day care at the end of the calendar month / Proof of the period of personal and all-day care provision to claim exemption from the obligation to pay social insurance contributions. This will be issued by the general practitioner of the person cared for at the end of each month of care – it serves for the payment of benefit.
• Confirmation of termination of personal and all-day care / Confirmation of termination of the need for personal and all-day care / Proof of the period of personal and all-day care provision to claim exemption from the obligation to pay social insurance contributions. This will be issued by the general practitioner of the person being cared for at the end of the nursing (e.g. in the case of the rotating of insured persons during care for a sick person) and at the end of the overall need for care.

2

Fill in and sign the ‘Declaration of the Insured Person’ on the second page of the forms

Please send the forms to the Social Insurance Agency branch.

3

If you are an employee, you can also submit the forms

to your employer. This will serve as proof of your obstacle to work and its duration.

4

Submit the application and the required forms to the Social Insurance Agency branch

relevant according to:

• the registered office of your employer, if you are an employee, or
• the registered office of your last employer, if you are an employee within the protection period,
• your permanent residence, if you are self-employed person or a voluntarily sickness-insured person.

Contact information can be found here: Contacts — Branches of the Social Insurance Agency.

How do I apply for a long-term nursing benefit? (If your doctor electronically confirms the need for long-term personal care via the eZdravie system)

1

You can submit an application for (long-term) nursing benefit either electronically or in writing

• Electronically

  • Via the eServices portal: You can use this service after logging into eServices (Insuree’s Electronic Account), clicking on the link, and filling in the form here: Submitting an Application for Nursing Benefit (long-term) (SK).

    To use the service and sign the form, a repeated login is required upon the prompt of the e-Services.

    When submitting the application electronically, you submit only one application indicating all insurance relationships from which you request the benefit entitlement. You can claim the entitlement to a long-term nursing benefit for a period that falls within the period of the need for long-term personal care confirmed by the doctor of the person being cared for. After receiving the application, the Social Insurance Agency will request the data on the doctor-confirmed need for long-term personal care from the eZdravie system.

• In writing
  • By postal service: The application is available on the website of the Social Insurance Agency here: Application for Nursing Benefit - long-term (SK).

  • In person: You can deliver the completed and signed application in person to the Social Insurance Agency branch, or you can obtain the form at the branch, fill it in, sign it, and submit it right there.

    You can submit the application to the Social Insurance Agency branch relevant according to:

    • the registered office of your employer, if you are an employee, or
    • the registered office of your last employer, if you are an employee within the protection period,
    • your permanent residence, if you are self-employed person or a voluntarily sickness-insured person.

Contact information can be found here: Contacts — Branches of the Social Insurance Agency.

If you submit your Application for Nursing Benefit via a web form and you want to claim the entitlement from multiple sickness insurances, you must submit this application for each insurance relationship separately.

2

If the application for the long-term nursing benefit does not include a confirmed end date up to which you are claiming this benefit, entitlement to payment is conditional upon submitting the form on time, either electronically or in writing

• Electronically

  • Via the eServices portal: You can use this service after logging into eServices (Insuree’s Electronic Account), clicking on the link, and filling in the form here: Notification of changes in facts decisive for entitlement to sickness benefit, its amount and payment (SK).

    To use the service and sign the form, a repeated login is required upon the prompt of the e-Services.

• In writing
  • By postal service: The notification is available on the website of the Social Insurance Agency here: Notification of changes in facts decisive for entitlement to sickness benefit, its amount and payment — LONG-TERM NURSING BENEFIT (need for nursing confirmed by a doctor) (SK).

  • In person: You can deliver the completed and signed notification in person to the Social Insurance Agency branch, or you can obtain the notification form at the branch, fill it in, sign it, and submit it right there.

    You can deliver the notification to a branch of the Social Insurance Agency relevant according to:

    • the registered office of your employer, if you are an employee, or
    • the registered office of your last employer, if you are an employee within the protection period,
    • your permanent residence, if you are self-employed person or a voluntarily sickness-insured person.

Contact information can be found here: Contacts — Branches of the Social Insurance Agency.

In the notification you will state the date until which you provided nursing care (reporting the termination of benefit receipt) or reporting that the nursing continues at the end of the calendar month.
If insured persons wish to take turns in providing long-term personal care, the insured person who provided long-term personal care last in order will confirm the end date of providing care for the purpose of rotation through this form. The insured person who will provide long-term personal care next in order will claim their entitlement to the nursing benefit through the Application for Long-Term Nursing Benefit.

GOOD TO KNOW:

We recommend submitting the application for nursing benefit immediately after it is issued/completed (see Benefit Payment / Statute of Limitations (SK)).

More information can be found in the section: SICKNESS INSURANCE — NURSING BENEFIT (SK).