Health care insurance, which until now has been extended to all unemployed Croatians whether or not they have registered with the state employment bureau, will in the future be limited only to people who are registered at the bureau, state agency Hina said on Thursday, citing Jutarnji List daily, who speculated on government's plans.

The move, Jutarnji speculates, could force around 100,000 Croatians to join the employment bureau registry in order to keep claiming health insurance, nearly doubling the number of officially registered jobless people, currently around 130,000.

This is part of the public health insurance system’s efforts to “purge” its registry, i.e. remove what are called “false beneficiaries.”

Because of the balkanized nature of databases used by various public services, it is estimated that around 300,000 Croatians can claim health care without being eligible to do so, mostly because they have emigrated out of the country without formally de-registering.

The state-run health care system has reportedly already signed a contract for an IT project connecting its system with the employment bureau database. Once completed, the matching of records would automatically identify anyone receiving health benefits who is not registered with the employment bureau. The government confirmed that it is working on this, and similar projects are already underway with the Interior Ministry and tax authorities.

Danijel Nestic, an analyst from the Zagreb Institute of Economics, told Jutarnji that that the status of unemployed people entitled to health benefits should be regulated differently.

“Unemployed persons who do not wish to find a job should be given the opportunity to pay for health insurance themselves. For example, someone renting out holiday apartments who is not seeking a job but still has an income, should not be eligible for free health insurance but should be allowed to pay for it out of their own pocket,” Nestic told Jutarnji.

“It is also necessary to regulate people working abroad who are eligible for health insurance in that country, because that makes them ineligible for health benefits in Croatia,” Jutarnji said.