The court of the Eurasian Economic Union has clarified that, under the documents regulating the system of compulsory medical insurance in Russia, the country’s authorities are not required to automatically issue insurance policies to family members of labor migrants. The position was provided in response to a request from the Ministry of Justice of Kyrgyzstan, according to the news outlet 24.kg, citing the court’s advisory opinion.
The court noted that the treaty establishing the Eurasian Economic Union distinguishes between social security and the right to medical care as separate categories. At the same time, the rights of family members of foreign citizens working in Russia to receive medical services are regulated by separate agreements and protocols.
According to the court’s opinion, the rules governing the procedure and scope of medical care do not provide for the automatic extension of compulsory medical insurance mechanisms to family members of labor migrants. This approach reflects differences in social security and health insurance models among the member states of the union. In Russia, for example, the system combines budgetary and insurance mechanisms, while other countries use mixed schemes, and in some cases compulsory medical insurance does not exist at all. The specific regulation of these mechanisms remains the sovereign right of each member state of the Eurasian Economic Union.
At the same time, the court’s panel emphasized that emergency medical care is guaranteed to all family members of labor migrants within the territory of the union’s member states.
In January this year, it became known that Kyrgyzstan had appealed to the court of the Eurasian Economic Union over Russia’s alleged failure to implement several provisions of an agreement on migrant workers signed between the organization’s member states.
Representatives of the Central Asian republic stated that Moscow was violating Articles 96–98 of the document by refusing to issue compulsory health insurance policies to family members of foreign citizens from member states working in Russia.
ℹ️ The treaty establishing the Eurasian Economic Union—whose members include Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia—was signed in Astana in 2014 and entered into force on January 1, 2015.
Among its key provisions is that citizens of these states do not need patents or other work permits to be employed in Russia; employers are not required to obtain permission to hire foreign labor; educational documents are recognized without apostille (with the exception of certain professions); and other measures.
A protocol on medical assistance states that emergency medical care is provided free of charge to workers in Eurasian Economic Union countries and their family members by state and municipal health-care institutions, regardless of whether they hold an insurance policy.
