Widows and orphaned children in Greece pay an estimated €220 million a year in health contributions to the National Organisation for the Provision of Health Services (EOPYY) on pensions they receive following the death of a spouse or parent, according to figures cited by the National Federation of Retired Persons and Pensioners (ENYPEKK).
The organisation says beneficiaries have paid a total of €2.5 billion between 2016 and 2025 in health contributions on survivor pensions.
The issue dates back to Law 4387/2016, known as the Katrougalos law, which increased the health contribution on main pensions from 4% to 6% and introduced a 6% contribution on supplementary pensions and other pension benefits.
Where a person receives more than one pension, the 6% contribution applies separately to each pension.
The measure remained in place under Law 4670/2020, known as the Vroutsis law, which maintained the 6% health contribution across pensions and pension benefits, including survivor and orphan pensions.
The 6% contribution on survivor pensions
ENYPEKK argues that the impact becomes particularly significant for widows who already pay a 6% health contribution on their own retirement pension while also paying another 6% on the survivor pension they receive following their husband’s death.
The same system applies to orphaned children, who pay the health contribution on the pensions they receive until they reach the applicable age limit, generally 18 or 24.
The organisation describes the contribution as an unfair and excessive burden, particularly when it applies to relatively low survivor and orphan pensions.
More than €321 million collected in 2025
Official figures for August 2026 show that Greece had 375,886 recipients of main survivor pensions, with an average gross monthly pension of €776.65.
After the health contribution, the average amount falls to €733.81, according to the figures cited.
ENYPEKK estimates that widows and widowers paid a total of:
- €321,975,227 in 2025
- €222,357,377 during the first eight months of 2026
The amounts relate to the 6% health contribution deducted from main and supplementary pensions and dividends, including the contribution applied to survivor pensions.
Pensioners call for the levy to be abolished
Representatives of pensioners are calling for the 6% EOPYY health contribution on survivor and orphan pensions to be abolished.
They argue that the charge unfairly affects spouses and children who receive benefits originating from insurance contributions paid by people who have since died.
ENYPEKK has called the contribution an unjustified and unlawful horizontal deduction, particularly when it applies to low-value survivor and orphan pensions.
The organisation is seeking the immediate and retrospective abolition of the 6% contribution for widows and orphans.
It argues that the measure represents an unprecedented transfer of income from pensioners to the state, with the greatest burden falling on lower-income pensioners receiving survivor and orphan pensions.
