The Health Insurance Fund is changing the contract terms and introducing a call for documentation

The Governing Board of the Croatian Health Insurance Fund at its 53rd session held on October 27, 2026, adopted the Decision on Amendments and Supplements to the Decision on the Basis for Concluding Contracts for the Provision of Healthcare from Compulsory Health Insurance. The Decision was published in the Official Gazette (Narodne novine) No. 124/2026 of October 30, 2026, under item 1483 and enters into force on the first day following the date of publication. In addition to the public tender, it introduces a call for the submission of documentation, and health centers are explicitly added to the provision on contracting.

Legal Framework and Signatory

The Decision was adopted by the Croatian Health Insurance Fund based on Article 87, paragraph 1 of the Compulsory Health Insurance Act (»Official Gazette« No. 80/13, 137/13, 98/19, 33/23, and 105/25) and Article 31, point 23 of the Fund’s Statute (»Official Gazette« No. 74/25), with the consent of the Minister of Health.

These are amendments to an existing Decision that has been changed numerous times since 2017 – most recently in issues 47/26, 56/26, and 80/26 – so the new text is actually a technical-harmonization intervention in the contracting process, rather than a new framework for healthcare contracting.

The Decision is signed by the President of the Governing Board of the Croatian Health Insurance Fund, Tomislav Dulibić, LL.B., and was adopted in Zagreb on October 27, 2026, under class 025-04/26-01/224 and registry number 338-01-01-26-01.

Call for Documentation alongside Tender and Three-Year Contract Period

Article 1 completely replaces the first four paragraphs of Article 3 of the Decision. The Fund thus, in accordance with Article 88 of the Act, based on the elements and criteria from the Decision, publishes a tender or a call for the submission of documentation for the conclusion of contracts for the provision of:

• primary healthcare,
• specialist-consultant healthcare,
• hospital healthcare,
• special programs.

Contracts are, as a rule, concluded for a contract period of three years, unless the Governing Board of the Fund determines otherwise by decision. The call is published for activities, health institutions, and private health practitioners for whom the obligation to conclude a contract arises from the Act, the law regulating healthcare, the public health service network, the emergency medicine and sanitary transport network, and regulations adopted on the basis of those laws.

There is also a new paragraph obliging health institutions and private health practitioners to submit to the Fund the documentation necessary for concluding contracts for a new contract period. Based on the conducted tender and call, the Fund then concludes contracts for the provision of healthcare, for the appropriate level of activity and contract period.

Health Centers and Deletion of the Network Filling Basis

Article 4 adds the words »health centers« after the word »hospitals« in Article 50, paragraph 1, and adds the words »and call« after the word »tender«. The same article deletes paragraph 2 of that article, while the previous paragraph 3 becomes paragraph 2.

The remaining changes standardize the terminology in all places where only the public competition was previously mentioned:

• in Article 4, after the words “conducted public competition,” the words “and call” are added;
• in Article 22, paragraph 8, after the word “competition,” the words “and call” are added;
• in Article 53, the words “on the basis of the conducted public competition for the filling of the Network” are deleted;
• in Articles 56, 57, and 58, the words “and on the basis of the conducted public competition for the filling of the Network” are deleted.

This removes from the Decision the linking of contracting exclusively to the filling of the public health service network, which is replaced by a dual-track procedure – a public competition and a call for submission of documentation.

What this means for institutions and clinics

The Decision enters into force on the first day following the day of its publication in the Official Gazette (Narodne novine), therefore October 31, 2026, and directly concerns all health institutions and private health workers who conclude a contract for the provision of health care from compulsory health insurance with the Institute. In addition to health centers, which now explicitly appear in Article 50, private clinics must also expect the obligation to submit documentation for the new contractual period, which is typically three years.

The practical consequence for institutions is that documentation is no longer linked exclusively to a announced public competition, but also to a call published by the Institute according to the needs determined by the public health service network and the emergency medicine and sanitary transport network.

Source: Official Gazette, No. 124/2026 of October 30, 2026, item 1483. – Decision on Amendments to the Decision on the Basis for Concluding Contracts for the Provision of Health Care from Compulsory Health Insurance. Class: 025-04/26-01/224, Reg. No: 338-01-01-26-01, Zagreb, October 27, 2026. Signatory: Tomislav Dulibić, dipl. iur., President of the Management Board of the Croatian Health Insurance Fund.