How to pay CASS yourself if you have no job in 2026

If you have no job and no income, you can stay insured by paying CASS yourself through a Single Declaration (form D212) filed at ANAF (the tax authority). The rate is 10% social health insurance contribution, applied to a calculation base, and payment gives you the right to the full package of medical services, not just emergencies. After you lose your job you remain insured for a limited period; so as not to become uninsured after that, you must declare and pay the contribution yourself.

This guide explains step by step who must pay, how much and how, as well as what happens if you choose not to insure yourself.

What happens right after you lose your job

When the employment contract ends, you don’t become uninsured instantly. The law grants you a period during which you still benefit from insured status. In addition, if you register with the employment agency (AJOFM) and receive unemployment benefit, you are insured for the duration in which you collect the benefit.

The problem arises after these periods end: if you have no other income and don’t fall into an exempt category, your insured status expires. From that moment you have two options: pay CASS yourself or remain uninsured.

Who must pay CASS themselves

You must pay the contribution yourself if:

• you have no income from salaries, self-employment, rents, dividends, etc. above the thresholds that would generate the payment obligation anyway;
• you are not part of a category insured without payment (see below);
• you nonetheless want to be insured and have access to the full package of services.

Those already insured in another capacity do not pay separately: employees, pensioners, persons with disabilities, children and young people up to a certain age who are dependents, pregnant women, persons covered by national health programs, and other categories expressly provided by Law 95/2006.

How you pay — the Single Declaration (D212)

The instrument is the Single Declaration, form D212, managed by ANAF.

Steps:

1. Access the Virtual Private Space (SPV) on anaf.ro (or file the declaration at the counter).
2. Complete the Single Declaration (D212) and opt to pay the social health insurance contribution.
3. Calculate the contribution — 10% applied to the calculation base.
4. Pay the contribution by the set deadlines (through the SPV, internet banking, at the treasury, or at the counter).
5. Keep the proof of payment and the confirmation from the SPV — they will be useful if you wrongly appear as uninsured.

How much it costs: the rate and the calculation base

• The rate is fixed: 10% CASS.
• The calculation base for persons with no income who insure themselves optionally is, in the commonly used formulation, the equivalent of 6 minimum gross salaries per year.

The actual amount therefore depends on the minimum gross wage in force, which changes periodically. Don’t rely on a fixed figure from old articles — check the current value and the calculation method on anaf.ro before filing the declaration, because both the minimum wage and the basic rules can change from year to year.

Example of the mechanism (without fixed figures): base = 6 × the minimum gross wage; annual contribution = 10% × base.

What you risk if you stay uninsured: the minimal package

Uninsured persons are not left completely without access to the system, but they receive only the minimal package of services, which includes:

• medical-surgical emergencies;
• diseases with endemic-epidemic potential (which require isolation/treatment for public health);
• family planning;
• monitoring of pregnancy and the postpartum period.

Everything else — routine specialist consultations, scheduled investigations, treatments for chronic diseases, non-emergency hospitalizations — you pay in full out of pocket. That is why, for most people, paying CASS is far more advantageous than the risk of remaining uninsured.

How to become “optionally insured”

“Optional insurance” (or facultative insurance) is exactly the procedure above: a person who is not liable to pay chooses to contribute in order to be insured. In practice:

• you file the Single Declaration and opt for CASS;
• you pay the contribution;
• you acquire insured status according to the ANAF/CNAS procedure.

Once you are insured again, you can resume access to the family doctor and to covered services. If you are from the Cluj area, you can choose or reconfirm your family doctor and check the list of providers in the county.

Deadlines, delays and common situations

A few practical things to remember:

• The filing and payment deadlines for the Single Declaration are set annually by ANAF. Filing on time helps you avoid the ancillary charges (interest and late-payment penalties).
• If you start working again, the employer resumes paying the contribution for you; you no longer have to pay separately for the same period.
• If you obtain income during the year (for example from self-employment or rents), the CASS obligation may change — reassess the situation in the Single Declaration.
• Keep all proof of payment and the confirmations from the SPV; you will need them if you wrongly appear as uninsured on the CNAS portal.

Don’t delay sorting out your situation: the longer you wait after insured status expires, the more you risk being left without access to covered services exactly when you need them. A specialist consultation or an investigation paid in full can far exceed the annual contribution.

Sources

• ANAF — the Single Declaration (form 212) and the payment obligations: https://www.anaf.ro
• Law no. 95/2006 on health reform (insured status, the minimal package): https://legislatie.just.ro
• National Health Insurance House (CNAS) — categories of insured persons and services: https://cnas.ro