The public health cost is always based on your income. Together with nursing care insurance, the cost equals about 20% of your income before taxes. This is split evenly with your employer. There’s a cap, but a high one: about €1150 per month in 2025. Check out our calculator to see your price.

With private health insurance, you do need to earn a certain amount to qualify - but it does not affect the monthly cost in any way.

Whether you have private or public health insurance, your premium can increase if medical costs rise significantly. On average, premiums increase about 3% per year for both public and private insurance.

There are a couple of reasons for rising medical costs: New treatments and technologies become available, doctors’ wages increase, people live longer and need more care, the law expands what insurers must cover, and inflation.

With private health insurance, the costs are based on your age and health at the time you sign up. However, once you're covered, aging or a new health condition will not change your cost.

With public health insurance, about €20 is added to the monthly cost when you're over 24 and have no kids. This is part of Germany's family policy.

With private health insurance, the costs stay the same when you retire because of built-in old-age reserves. If you’ve paid into the German pension system for at least 5 years, the state will pay a share (7.5% of your pension income, but never more than 50% of your premium). To save even more, you may also downgrade your insurance plan.
​

With public health insurance, the costs equal 18.4% pension income. Beware that this includes state pension, rental income, dividends, and more. The state covers 50% of the cost if you've paid into the system for at least 5 years.