Health insurance
If you start studying at a state German university, you must prove that you have health insurance. If you are still insured under your parents' family insurance, this is considered insured and you do not have to take out separate insurance.
Once you have completed your 14th semester or have reached the age of 30, your insurance requirement expires.
Statutory health insurance
If your parents are insured with statutory health insurance, you are automatically insured through the family insurance until your 25th birthday. Under certain conditions (military service/voluntary service), family insurance is extended by one year.
IMPORTANT:
If you work alongside your studies, your income must be less than €395, otherwise you will be covered by student health insurance. (For a mini-job, the income limit is €450.) It is important that as a dependent employee you can deduct a flat rate of €1,000 from your gross income on your annual earnings if it is not a mini-job.
Compulsory student insurance
If you are over your 25th birthday or already have more income before then, you will be covered by compulsory student insurance. You can take advantage of this tariff until the end of your 14th semester or until you turn 30. The amount is the same for all statutory health insurance companies and consists of the health insurance amounting to €64.77 and the nursing care insurance contribution amounting to €13.73. (There are some statutory health insurance companies that have introduced an additional contribution, which is usually €8.)
After turning 30 or at the end of your 14th semester, you will no longer be required to have compulsory student insurance and you can only take out health insurance as a voluntary member. (In some exceptional cases, this limit can be postponed, including: necessary postgraduate studies, illness and care for family members in need, military and community service, participation in university committees). Attention: As a rule, a reduced rate is granted in voluntary insurance for 6 months. The amounts then total: €121.20. If you still need insurance beyond the 6 months, you will be classified as a “normal” voluntary insured person.
If you have student health insurance until the end of your studies, the insurance coverage ends one month after you graduate.
TIP:
Despite the uniform tariff for compulsory student insurance, it is still worth taking a close look at the tariff conditions. There are certain tariffs from health insurance companies that offer optional tariffs that offer discounts - usually repayments - under certain conditions.
IMPORTANT:
If you fall into compulsory student insurance and receive BAföG, you should inform the BAföG office of this, as the requirement rate of your BAföG entitlement will then increase. (However, disputes arise if you are dropped from family insurance because you earn too much on the side.)
Private health insurance
Before you start your studies, you can decide whether you want to remain legally insured or switch to private health insurance - or if you are no longer covered by student health insurance, it may be worth taking out private health insurance instead of continuing to be voluntarily insured to remain in statutory health insurance. It's worth taking a look at the price and conditions.
As a rule, if you have compulsory student insurance, the amounts charged by statutory health insurance companies are not or only slightly higher than those for private health insurance. It's only worth changing here if you value the scope of private health insurance.
However, if you are over the age of 30 or have completed your 14th semester, it is worth comparing private and statutory health insurance, as you can save a lot of money here.
IMPORTANT:
If you switch to private health insurance, you are bound to this decision until the end of your studies. You can only rejoin the statutory health insurance if you take up dependent employment.
If you start studying at a state German university, you must prove that you have health insurance.
