TOP German Health Insurances

In Germany a health insurance is compulsory!

If you live in Germany and have a permanent place of residence, you must have a health insurance – it’s required by law. Otherwise you don’t get a visa.

Two systems – statutory or private?

There are two systems – the statutory (public) health insurance (gesetzliche Krankenversicherung) and private health insurance (private Krankenversicherung).

In most cases you cannot choose, because there is an income threshold for statutory health insurance. Employees who don’t earn more than an annual salary of 54,450 € must be members of the statutory health insurance. On average the insurance costs approx. 15% of your gross income, of which you have to pay 50%, the second half is paid for by your employer. In this insurance your wife and children are also insured included free of charge.

Example: If you have a monthly gross salary of 5000 € as an employee, your health insurance contribution would be 50% of approx. 750€, that is 375 €.

If you earn more than the income threshold mentioned above you can still be a member of the state system voluntarily. But you can also choose a private health insurance.

Supplementary insurances recommended

Since the state care system provides only basic health care, customers often use private supplementary insurance to fill certain gaps. Common supplementary insurances cover more extensive dental care (dental supplementary insurance = Zahnzusatzversicherung) or better options for treatments and better choice and treatment in hospital.

For example, the statutory health insurance only covers a small part of the costs for dentures, orthodontic treatment, braces, spectacles, spectacle frames, orthopaedic shoes etc.

Further common private supplementary  insurances are, for example, dental supplementary insurances, daily benefits insurances, travel health insurances or nursing care insurances.

• A dental supplementary insurance fills gaps in coverage of expensive crowns, implants, braces, onlays, inlays etc.
• A daily benefits insurance (Krankentagegeldversicherung) covers financial loss for the time you are unable to work due to a stay in hospital.
• A travel health insurance (Auslandskrankenversicherung) covers extra costs for medical treatment while travelling abroad.
• A nursing care insurance (Pflegeversicherung) covers the risk becoming dependent on nursing care due to accidents, disease or in old age.

How much does a private health insurance cost?

The private health insurance fee does not depend on your annual income, but is calculated with regard to your state of health, age and range of benefits for each individual insured.

While the state insurance covers a basic range of health services, the private insurance is not subject to state regulations and offers more extensive services and benefits, no co-payment for prescription charges, no quarterly fee.  Note: Privately insured employees cannot claim the 50% share of their employers. Many self-employed choose private health care insurance.