Cost of Private Health Insurance in Germany: How Much To Expect?
Are you wondering how much private health insurance costs and whether you can afford it? It’s crucial to know how much you end up paying for health insurance in Germany because it can be a significant part of one’s budget. Private coverage doesn’t have to be expensive – in fact, in some cases, it can be even cheaper than German public insurance.
The cost of private health insurance in Germany can range from 28 EUR to 1,500 EUR per month, depending on your situation and insurance premium. The price for students starts at 28 EUR per month, and a good policy for employees will cost around 220 EUR per month.
Private insurance (PKV) isn’t very popular in Germany; the majority of the population prefers public providers. Nonetheless, private health insurance has many advantages, including its price. If you are already familiar with the cost of public insurance in Germany, you need to know that the estimation of the price for private insurance is different.
To find affordable health insurance check out the German comparison tool: Tarifcheck.de.
How expensive is private health insurance in Germany?
When clients sign for public health insurance, they already know how much to expect per month. For instance, employees in Germany pay 14,6% of their monthly income, and students have fixed rates between 102,05 EUR and 116,33 EUR, depending on the company.
For students in Germany following rule applies:
However, the situation is different with private health insurance, where every provider decides on their own how much to charge.
Premiums aren’t calculated according to the individual’s income like in the public system, but on the level of benefits, age, and health conditions.
Most companies will make a medical assessment (usually via phone) of the potential client to estimate a current state of health.
When talking about costs, private health insurance for a healthy 35-year-old employee is available already from about 220 EUR per month. See the cheapest policies in Germany.
But depending on the benefits you choose, you can also spend more, so a 35-year-old might pay 326 EUR for excellent coverage with special priories and preferences.
In comparison, the same employee with an income of 60k per year will pay around 365 EUR per month for public health insurance.
Moreover, in contrast to public health insurance, the so-called equivalence principle applies to private health insurance. This translates to the direct connection between the agreed benefits/coverage and the price to be paid.
The higher the agreed level of policy performance, the higher the monthly rate – and vice versa. On the other hand, income is primarily irrelevant when determining the amount you pay for private coverage.
The equivalence principle also includes personal risk factors in the price determination:
- age
- past illnesses and diseases
- estimated health risks
- pre-existing and chronic diseases
In fact, age plays quite an important role. Statistics have shown that the monthly rate increases with increasing age. Hence, older adults pay the highest contributions to private health insurance.
Consequently, the amount you pay for your private health insurance depends on several factors, including:
- The chosen coverage and benefits
- Occupation
- Age
- Current health state
- Pre-existing medical conditions
- Previous illnesses and diseases
- The selected coverage and benefits
- The deductible
Moreover, the fewer benefits and the higher the deductible you select, the cheaper private health insurance will be. You can see the exact prices in this article.
Private health insurance for expats
Private insurance is often selected by the expats in Germany, mainly because they seek service in the English language.
Currently, there are 43 private insurance providers in the country, although most of them don’t speak English and don’t provide special coverage for expats.
Moreover, private insurance is also chosen by unemployed, self-employed, students, and others, who don’t fulfill the requirements of a public health insurance provider. In fact, when you apply for a German visa, you must sign for one of the private coverages.
In Germany, two leading private providers take decent care of foreigners: Feather and Ottonova. Allianz is also a popular solution for internationals living in Germany. So how much expats and other foreigners pay for private insurance in Germany?
1. Feather
Feather is an English-speaking health insurance provider based in Berlin. They offer all types of health insurance, including public, private, dental, and more.
You can sign up online and get full English support anytime, which is why they are our number one recommendation.
Feather offers a wide range of insurance coverage for all types of people, no matter their situation. You can calculate their rates online, where they provide 100% transparency.
Expat health insurance is open to many people who are not employed and need health insurance for their visa application. The price for this coverage starts at 72 EUR per month. You can sign up easily online, and you will be issued your coverage in just 2 minutes.
You can sign up for additional dental insurance for better dental care, which will cover ALL your needs&wants at the dentist’s office for just 9 EUR per month.
Expat/incoming insurance is suitable for:
- New arrivals to Germany
- University students
- Students of language courses
- Interns and trainees
- Expats and unemployed persons
- Self-employed persons who are not earning a high income (less than 50,000€ annually)
- Perfect for your first visa application
Hence, if you need simple insurance for visa application and the first days in Germany, incoming insurance is your best choice.
On the other hand, long-term public health insurance from Feather is suitable for:
- University students under 30 years old
- Employees with a German contract
- Self-employed persons who have moved to DE from somewhere else in the EU
The cost of public insurance is fixed. That way, you will know how much it will cost you per month even before signing up.
Read a full review on insurances from Feather.
Private health insurance – this coverage is great for those earning a high income (more than 65,000€ per year) as it’s generally much less expensive than public health insurance. Here’s who might consider signing up for private health insurance:
- Young and healthy individuals earning more than 65,000€ per year
- Young and healthy self-employed individuals making more than 45,000€ per year
Private health insurance is recommended for healthy individuals only because any pre-existing health conditions might raise your monthly premium or simply not be covered altogether. For anyone with severe pre-existing conditions, Feather recommends public insurance.
What is included in dental insurance?
- Professional dental cleaning
- Dental treatments
- With the advanced cover, you can have dentures and tooth replacement
- With the advanced cover, you can have teeth whitening
2. Ottonova
Ottonova is another popular private health insurance provider in Germany. They offer coverages for expats, employees, self-employed, civil servants, as well as an additional package for dental procedures and stay in a hospital.
They operate only digitally and offer additional services, such as:
- Concierge Service
- Digital doctor visit
- Online registration process
- Digital support
- Smartphone app
- International health insurance
- Health X – bonus program
On their website, you can see an estimation of the monthly price depending on the following factors:
- age
- yearly income
- benefits
- range of treatments
- if the coverage is worldwide or not
- stay in a hospital
- and many others
The estimated cost of expat coverage is 165 EUR per month; however, you can choose a “Premium economy” coverage for 229 EUR or get an upgrade to the “Business Class” for 257 EUR or “First class” for 278 EUR per month.
These estimates are applicable for employees and expats in Germany; for self-employed people, it would be different rates.
Nonetheless, with insurance from Ottonova, non-EU expats can save even more money by choosing their special expat plan.
Additionally, you can opt for dental insurance from Ottonova. The exact price will be calculated based on your age. For a 25-year-old individual, it’s 8,73 EUR for the cheapest deal per month. The elite dental coverage will cost 20,01 EUR per month, which is still very reasonable for the benefits you get:
- teeth cleaning
- full cost reimbursement for dental treatments
- coverage for high costs for dentures, implants, and inlays
- coverage for orthodontics for children & adults
Will you pay more when earning more?
Luckily no, since the contributions for private health insurance don’t depend on your income, you don’t have to worry about the increase in price with an increase in earnings. You will pay the same monthly rate for your policy even when earning more.
Which health insurance is more expensive: private or public?
Many people question the price difference between public and private health insurance, but there isn’t a simple answer.
In private health insurance, contributions are calculated based on the principle of equivalence: the higher the benefits, the higher the price.
You can calculate the price yourself by using insurance comparisons such as Tarifcheck.de.
In the case of statutory health insurance, the principle of solidarity applies to the pricing. Everyone pays regardless of age and the state of health – a fixed contribution – the percentage of the income.
Therefore, higher earners pay more for public health insurance. That’s why especially for them use of private insurance is beneficial.
Main takeaways:
Statutory health insurance (GVK) accepts almost everyone. With public insurance, the contribution amount depends on your income, while with private health insurance (PKV) – on policy benefits, age, and health conditions.
In many cases, you will save money with private health insurance, but it all depends on the individual situation.
Save money with private insurance
Although private insurance sounds like something exclusive and pricey, it isn’t automatically more expensive than a public one. In fact, you can even save money by taking out private coverage.
Especially people at a young age with good health and high income will save a lot with private insurance. For example, a single employee with a monthly salary of 5,500 EUR will pay around 439 EUR for public coverage (in 2021).
On the other hand, the same employee with private health insurance will pay significantly less, assuming they are around 30-40 years old.
Self-employed can especially benefit
Self-employed people in Germany can save even more money. With public insurance, a business owner/freelancer must pay 14,6% of the monthly income, which is a lot!
However, in Germany, the rule of maximum contribution applies to an annual income of 58,050 EUR. Hence, with income over this amount, you will pay a maximum of 14,6% of 58,050 EUR for your policy.
Get a tax return for your private health insurance
As an additional benefit of private health insurance, self-employed people and freelancers can claim contributions and tax-deductible expenses. This can be done in the annual income tax return, which can be submitted very easily by using this provider.
Who can sign up for private health insurance?
The last question that comes to mind is, who can sign up for private health insurance? In Germany, people from the following categories can take out private coverage:
- Students
- Employees with income over 64,350 EUR
- Self-employed
- Freelancer
- Unemployed
- Civil servant
- Au-pairs
