General Health Insurance is a system applied in Turkey that is ensuring to benefit from the public funding to the healthcare services for the insurance holders. As a general rule the system covers both the citizens and residents of Turkey.
Foreigners who are living in Turkey with a residence permit are legally eligible to apply for and benefit from the General Health Insurance. In addition, foreign national student who are studying in Turkey are eligible for the General Health Insurance from a discounted premium rate as to be valid for their whole education period in Turkey.
As an important legal change, the General Health Insurance premium debts of foreign nationals belonging to the periods before the date of 1 January 2013 have been deleted.
Within the scope of the amendment made with the Act No. 7429 which is published in the Turkish Official Gazette dated 28.12.2022 the General Health Insurance premium debts of the following are being cancelled:
? General health insurance premium debts of foreign nationals— who are not insured under the legislation of a foreign country, and who have obtained a residence permit and became insurance holders within the scope of the subparagraph 60-d of the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Act No. 5510,
? General health insurance premium debts of “Turkish citizens who are not entitled to benefit from health insurance in another country”, who are not covered by other General Health Insurance registrations and who are insurance holders within the scope of the subparagraph 60 of the Act No. 5510,
? General health insurance premium debts of foreign students studying in Turkey, with the exception of “International students awarded with scholarships by the decision of the International Students Evaluation Board” who are insurance holders within the scope of the seventh paragraph of the Article 60 Act No. 5510.
All the ancillary receivables, delay penalties and delay hikes belonging to the General Health Insurance premium of those enlisted above and which are belonging to the periods before the date of January 1, 2013, are being cancelled by the Social Security Institution.
However, the premiums paid for the aforementioned periods will not be refunded or deducted.
As to underline again, the arrangement does not cover the debts belonging to periods after 1st of January 2013. All the general health insurance of the rest of these periods are supposed to be paid in-line with the rules of the Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Act No. 5510.
