Czech Business Today

Czech employers are taking a proactive step to help stabilize the country’s healthcare system. A new initiative called Employers for Health (not only) of Employees and Sustainable Healthcare aims to strengthen prevention, improve workplace well-being, and ensure that healthcare remains financially sustainable without further increasing the cost of labor.

Behind the platform stands a simple conviction – good health is an investment. Healthy employees mean higher productivity, lower absenteeism, and less pressure on public finances. As healthcare costs and deficits continue to rise, Czech businesses are calling for a smarter approach—one based on prevention, digital innovation, and efficiency rather than higher taxes and levies.

The initiative will focus on promoting healthy lifestyles, better access to preventive care, and modern forms of healthcare delivery. From early 2026, several pilot projects will start directly in companies, offering vaccination, screening, and preventive check-ups at the workplace. For the first time, health and social data will also be connected, helping identify patterns of illness and allowing for targeted interventions across different age and professional groups.

Employers argue that they already play a crucial role in the system—together with their employees, they finance over seventy percent of public health insurance revenues. They want this responsibility to be matched by greater involvement in shaping healthcare policy. Prevention programs, efficient management of health funds, and stronger cooperation with insurers could, in their view, deliver better results than simply pouring more money into an already strained system.

Czech business leaders also stress that healthcare should be treated as a strategic investment, just like energy or digital infrastructure. They see it as essential for maintaining the competitiveness of the economy and the resilience of the workforce in an ageing society.

The new platform has received support from the Ministry of Health, which sees the initiative as aligned with the government’s goals to modernize and simplify the healthcare system. The cooperation between employers, health insurers, and public authorities is expected to bring concrete results, from better prevention to improved access to care.

Employers for Health brings together the country’s main business and employer organizations—the Confederation of Employer and Business Unions, the Confederation of Industry and Transport, and the Czech Chamber of Commerce—alongside the General Health Insurance Company and the Association of Health Insurance Funds. Their shared ambition is clear: make the Czech healthcare system more effective, innovative, and sustainable for the long term.

By uniting around this goal, Czech employers are sending a broader message to Europe: economic competitiveness and a healthy society go hand in hand. Prevention and cooperation, not higher levies, are the way forward.

Source: Confederation of Employer and Business Unions, the Czech Chamber of Commerce