In Germany, you must take out health insurance as an employee. A distinction is made between statutory and private health insurance. These are two different systems and you cannot switch between them freely.
Most employees in Germany have statutory health insurance. As a person with statutory health insurance, you can choose the health insurance provider from a wide range of insurances and suits you eh best. Here is where you can find a list of all statutory health insurance providers. Your partner and your children also enjoy insurance cover: if, for example, your spouse does not work, you can include them in the statutory health insurance. This does not incur any additional costs for you. The same applies to your children.
Above a certain salary, you can opt for private health insurance. This limit for the salary is called the compulsory insurance limit. You can find the latest information on salary limits on the official website of the Federal Government.
Health insurance benefits
If you fall ill, you are in good hands in Germany. The health insurance provider covers the costs of all urgently needed medical treatment. The basic insurance cover provided by the statutory health insurance providers extends to the following services:
- outpatient medical treatment, for example, in doctors' surgery
- dental care
- medication, health remedies or medical aids
- in-patient medical treatment, for example in a hospital
- medically necessary rehabilitation measures
- benefits during pregnancy and childbirth