Health insurance is mandatory in many countries around the world, including Germany. If you plan to move, or already live in Germany, you have to get health insurance; there is no way around it. So, you might be wondering: can I at least save some money and choose the cheapest policy? Well, that depends. German law mandates different insurance options for different situations. Also, the cheapest policy might not provide adequate coverage for each individual situation. Therefore, the term "cheapest" needs to be evaluated based on different factors.
Employed in a German-based company
Employees of a German-based company who make over €603/month have to go for either statutory/public health or comprehensive private health insurance, the latter being available only to individuals making over €77,400/year gross, should they choose it over public health.
Self-employed, employed abroad, retired or investment/rental income
These individuals can go for:
Public health, if they meet eligibility requirements
Comprehensive private health insurance if they earn over €30 000/year gross (€45 000 if over 55 years of age or €60 000 if retired abroad),
Incoming insurance such as our short-term expat health, which comes at only €72/month.
International private health insurance, such as our long-term expat health
Students
Each student under 30 years of age attending a degree program at a state-accredited university in Germany can enjoy the discounted student rate in public health insurance, at around €155/month. They can also go for an incoming policy, such as our expat health.
Students over 30 or the ones studying at a non-accredited university or doing a Studienkolleg usually need to go for an incoming policy such as our expat health since they do not qualify for public health insurance.
Dependents (Family insurance)
Main policyholders can add their spouse and kids who generate under €603/month to their public health policy completely free of charge. Dependents enjoy the same broad coverage as the main policyholder. One could argue this is absolutely the cheapest way of getting insured in Germany, but as shown, it also comes with its conditions.
Privately insured persons can add dependents to their policy as well, but they have to pass a health check, and their policy will come at the full cost.
Are there any other requirements?
Public health insurance is simple: people employed in a German-based company and under 55 years of age are eligible without further questions , and the rest need to prove their insurance history in the EU/EEA, as stated in eligibility requirements. Pre-existing health issues are not relevant at all.
To join comprehensive private health insurance, an individual needs to be generally healthy, apart from having sufficient earnings mentioned above.
Is there a difference between providers within the same system?
Public health
Generally not much. Public health insurance is heavily subsidized and tightly regulated by the state. Meaning, all the rules are set by the state and imposed on each provider equally. Contribution and coverage are almost identical.
Having said that, there are minor differences in both the contribution and the coverage.
The general contribution is set by the state, but each provider sets its individual so-called provider contribution, which amounts to about 2-4% of the insured person's earnings. TK did remain one of the lowest at 2.96%, while some providers went to 4%.
Therefore, you might be saving 5-20€/month by choosing TK, depending on your income.
With regard to coverage, the basics are identical. However, some providers offer better bonuses or cash back. This is also regulated by the state, and you will not be getting thousands of € yearly back, but you might see some minor difference across the board.
Since neither contribution nor coverage differs by a lot, in order to determine which provider makes the most sense, we need to look into the customer support, especially English, and speed of processing. There are, for example, some providers that remained even under 2.9% (provider's contribution) but do not offer German support at all, which makes the savings of around 0.5% definitely not worth it.
Having all of that in mind, our choice is generally TK, then BARMER or DAK.
Comprehensive private health
The comprehensive private health system is also regulated by the state, and providers have very little to say individually when it comes to eligibility, premium, and coverage.
It really comes down to customer support, especially English, and the overall ease of use. We pride ourselves on excelling on all the mentioned fronts, and you can learn more about our comprehensive private health policy if you are in search of one.
Incoming and international private policies
Incoming insurances, or so-called short-term private ones, are all similar under the hood. All are limited to 5 years but do differ in both the price and coverage slightly. None generally covers any preexisting condition or preventive checkups. Basically, the policy serves for emergencies and any health issue that began after the policy was purchased. They come in handy to people who do not qualify for other policies or just want to save some money in case they are not mandated to get another policy. Our expat health comes at only €72/month, and you will enjoy well-renowned Feather support! :)
If your stay in Germany exceeded 5 years or the immigration office requires a policy that is not time limited, you can take a look into our long-term expat health.
Conclusion
I hope we managed to round up the term "cheapest" and explain how the lowest monthly contribution is not always the cheapest option to go for. A €72/month expat health policy will not be the cheapest if you have to pay out of pocket for treatment of an already existing health condition, which would be covered by public health. To be evaluated, contribution needs to be compared to various factors, such as coverage and the law requirements.