Every person who is not subject to compulsory insurance in Germany can join the voluntary insurance if they fulfil the requirements.
Who is a voluntary member of public insurance?
Self-employed and freelancers (artists and publicists can signup through KSK)
Job seekers
Mini jobbers (monthly income up to €538)
Students over 30 years of age
Employees over 55 years of age
Employees with a yearly income above €69,300
The requirements of getting public health insurance for voluntary members
Voluntary public health insurance is, in most cases, an extension of already existing EU/EEA state insurance, which means that you can transfer to German voluntary public health insurance if your EU/EEA state insurance ended less than 3 months ago and, prior to that, it was active for at least 12 full consecutive months, or at least 24 months within the last 5 years, with possible interruptions.
Special rules:
Employees over 55 years of age can access the public system if they are not switching from private health insurance and if they have been covered by the public system in one of the EU/EEA countries for at least one day within the last 5 years, or they haven't had residence in Germany within the last 5 years.
Employees with a yearly income above €69,300 are also so-called voluntary insured since they can also choose between public and private health insurance. However, the eligibility rules for them are a bit different. They can get into public health insurance without previous EU/EEA state coverage, as long as they are not switching from German private health insurance to public.
Costs
Voluntary public health insurance costs are based on your (pre-tax) income and are generally calculated at around 19,5% of gross income (2024). The total cost is made up of health insurance (15.6%) + long-term care insurance (2.4-4%, depending on age and having children) and a small fee of around 1.2-2.7%, depending on the chosen provider.
However, the German system assumes you'll be earning at least €1,178.33 per month, so even if you earn less than that you'll still be paying the minimum of around €230 each month. And no matter how much you earn, the highest contribution you'll make tops out at around €950 per month.