Health Insurance

Health & Insurance

Health insurance in Germany is obligatory for every resident, including the self-employed and all expatriates. International health insurance is not officially accepted as a substitute for national health insurance in Germany. Health insurance is also a prerequisite for residence or work permits.

You cannot start working without having health insurance in Germany. Any German employer who wants to legally employ you will ask for your health insurance information beforehand. It is the employer’s duty to share the costs of health insurance with the employee as well as to deduct and forward the employer’s insurance contribution automatically from the salary.

Only if you have some sort of special status (e.g. when seconded to Germany by a company for a limited time) is it possible to avoid signing up for health insurance in Germany. The issue of international health insurance for resident expats is a grey area: It may be tolerated, but you shouldn’t rely on it.

One typical aspect of the German healthcare system is the coexistence of private and public health insurance. The option available to you depends on a variety of criteria. In both cases, you have many insurance companies to choose from, and either way, employers and employees share the insurance costs evenly between them.

However, health insurance in Germany does not cover all health-related expenses. Your health plan does not include nursing care. Contributions to nursing insurance and to the German retirement fund are subtracted separately from your salary. Health insurance in Germany does not cover work-related accidents and disabilities, either. Your employer takes care of the former; the latter is regarded as your responsibility. If you are self-employed, insurance matters are your own responsibility and you have to contribute all expenses related to health insurance in Germany yourself.

Health Insurance in Germany: Finding the Right Plan

There are over 150 companies providing health insurance in Germany. Services and prices of public insurance plans and private portfolios vary considerably. The premiums for public health insurances are fixed at a certain percentage of your income, though. This leads to a lot of competition for providing different services among public insurance companies. However, government regulations ensure some minimal coverage.

You can always add optional services, which makes a thorough comparison of insurance companies rather complex. For example, some insurers may include travel insurance outside the European Union, coverage for accidents during high-risk sports, or Chinese medicine. Other companies offer benefits and reimbursements if you participate in preventative programs and regular checkups.

One of the most important decisions when it comes to health insurance in Germany is the choice between public and private plans. Apart from the level of insurance coverage you prefer and the amount of money you can invest, several other factors play a significant role:

your age

your legal status and family status

your income and job prospects

the intended duration of your stay

So you need to consider the following questions: Who is covered? What is covered? And how much will it cost? The answers to these questions reveal significant differences between public and private health insurance in Germany.