Health insurance is mandatory for everyone visiting or living in Germany.
When living in Germany you can either take our private (privaten Krankenversicherung – PKV) or public (gesetzliche Krankenversicherung – GKV) health insurance. Your choice will depend on your age, salary and employment status.
To know:
- It is extremely difficult to change from Private to Public insurance. The other way around is no issue
- Contributions for public depends on your salary, contributions for private depends on your risk profile (age and health). Private insurance become more expensive the older you get
- Private insurance – you pay expenses out of your pocket and claim them back
- Public insurance – your claim is submitted and paid by the company
- Only civil servants, the self-employed, students and employees whose salary exceeds the annual income limit (Versicherungspflichtgrenze) may take out private insurance. In 2023, this limit is € 66,600 gross per year.
- For employees, the employer pays half of the premium (14.6% / 2) plus a statuary additional contribution (1.3%/2) , but only up to the maximum rate of a statutory insured person (Beitragsbemessungsgrenze). In 2023 the limit is €59850 or €4987,5 per month. That calculates to a max contribution of €384,58 per month
Resources on the web
Top up medical cover
You can top up your medical cover for example Dentist cover.
You can read more about it on the How To Germany Site. There is also a good article (German) from Focus about Zusatzversicherung
Tourist Health Cover (travel to Germany)
Tourist needs travel and medical insurance before they can apply for their Visa’s.
Some of the options are your medical aid or a company like TIC.
Please be aware of the requirements from the Embassy, not all credit card cover is accepted.
When you need cover for 6 to 12 months, you can look at Klemmer.
Cover for freelancers
At the time of writing, these two companies offer medical aid for freelancers in Germany.
Except for publicists and people working in the arts, all freelancers and self-employed should be privately health insured.
For Expats coming over, you will not be allowed to go onto Vol Privat Krankenversicherung (full private health insurance) until you have been in Germany for 2 years and held other health insurance for that time (keep in mind you will not qualify for public health insurance). You need a expat/travel health insurance (private health insurance) for those 1st two years.It also needs to meet the requirements of the Embassy for the Visa and the Behörde (not all do).
Comparative websites
The following websites offer a comparison of medical insurance. Please always read the fine print before signing up through comparative sites
Medical insurance companies
- Krankenkassse has a list of private and public health insurance companies.
- PKV lists members of the Private Krankenversicherung (PKV)
Advisors listed on this site
If you are in need of assistance with your health insurance application, here is a list of competent and reliable professionals who are equipped to provide you with top-notch support throughout the entire process. You can rest easy knowing that these individuals are well-versed in all aspects of healthcare and have ample experience helping clients navigate the often confusing world of German health insurance. Don’t hesitate to reach out to any of the exceptional individuals on our list- they are more than happy to help you apply for the healthcare coverage you need!

Chad Joubert – Wealth Advisor
We are a financial coaching and family office. We are able to assist our clients in both Germany and South Africa, so you only need one adviser to help you with all your financial needs. I have been running a wealth management practice in South Africa since 2017 and moved over to Germany in November 2021 with my wife, who is German, our daughter was born in January 2022, as such I have looked to
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