Health insurance in Romania without income: documents, cost and steps in 2026

Who must insure themselves and who stays exempt

Before any form, check the list of exemptions. If you are on it, you are insured without paying CASS.

Since 1 August 2025, the Fiscal Code exempts the following from CASS, among others:

• children under 18 and young people aged 18–26 who are pupils, apprentices or students;
• young people under 26 who come from the child protection system;
• people with disabilities, for income received under Law 448/2006;
• cancer patients enrolled in the national health programmes, until they recover;
• pregnant women and women who have recently given birth;
• pensioners, for the part of their pension up to 3,000 lei a month.

Spouses and parents without income who are dependants of an insured person have been taken off the list. CNAS kept them insured until 1 September 2025. Since then, they either insure themselves or the person who supports them pays for them. Also since August 2025, CASS has been withheld at source from unemployment benefit.

Sources: ANAF, DGRFP Cluj — brochure of 22 April 2026 (art. 154 Fiscal Code) and CNAS — changes under Legea 141/2025. Accessed 17 September 2026.

What health insurance without income costs in 2026

The amount does not depend on the month in which you file. The calculation base is the minimum wage in force on 1 January of that year.

For 2026, ANAF's calculation is: 6 × 4,050 lei = 24,300 lei, and 10% of this base is 2,430 lei. In ANAF's example, the first instalment is 608 lei, paid on filing, and the second, 1,822 lei, is due by 25 May of the following year. You can also pay the full amount at once. A rise in the minimum wage during the year does not change the amount, because the base remains the one from 1 January.

You can pay by card in the SPV or on Ghișeul.ro, by bank transfer, by postal order or at Treasury cash desks. ANAF warns that the option is final. If you move into an exempt category after filing, for example because you become pregnant, the contribution for that year is not recalculated.

Sources: ANAF Cluj 2026 (art. 180 and 182 Fiscal Code) and ANAF press release no. 882/2025.

If you are not insured: what is free and what you pay

Even without insurance you are entitled to the pachet minimal (minimum package of services). It covers emergencies, not routine care.

• Hospital: admission for life-threatening emergencies until the emergency is resolved, for diseases with epidemic potential and for childbirth.
• Medic de familie (family doctor): one consultation for each emergency and at most two for each episode of acute illness.
• Pregnancy and the postnatal period: the registration and monitoring consultations, plus two family planning consultations a year.
• You pay in full for recommended tests, specialist consultations and medicines. The doctor cannot issue CNAS prescriptions or referral forms for you.

CNAS has stated that people without income enrolled in the national health programmes continue their treatment until they recover. The details are in our guide to the conditions covered by the national programmes.

A private consultation does not depend on being insured. At Global Health, a consultation with an online doctor is paid for directly, and for tests you can get paid referrals and investigations. They can help while you wait for your insurance to start.

Sources: CNAS — minimum package in hospital, CNAS — minimum package at the family doctor, CNAS — information for uninsured people, Gov.ro — 112.

Sources for this guide

ANAF and CNAS documents, accessed 17 September 2026.

Amounts and deadlines are those in force in September 2026. The calculation base changes when the minimum wage changes on 1 January.