Should I have statutory or private health insurance?
Insurance is not necessarily everyone’s favourite subject. It is a dry, but nevertheless necessary subject, which we usually have to deal with. But if you make the right decisions here, this can mean a significant financial advantage. Because apart from the contributions, also the achievements of the individual offerers deduct very strongly from each other. In many cases, treatment costs are not paid at all or only in a small percentage. The financial effects are immense. To find one’s way in the confusion of the individual tariffs is unbelievably difficult for a average mortal. However, it is important to know what to pay attention to. Also the insurance for the children needs to be roofed over.
Statutory health insurance – legal requirements
The most important rule for health insurance is the so-called income threshold. This limit specifies the income level above which an employee in Germany may switch from statutory health insurance to private health insurance. This limit currently lies at an annual gross income of 60,750 euros. This limit, also known as the annual income limit, is flexible. It is adjusted annually to inflation and rising incomes. The following groups of persons are an exception to this rule: Self-employed, civil servants and candidates as well as freelancers. They can switch to private health insurance without having to meet the income threshold. Private health insurance offers the insured person clear advantages over statutory health insurance. In addition, civil servants are entitled to assistance, i.e. the authority providing the service contributes a large proportion of the costs incurred. If the privately insured person is in a normal employment relationship, his/her employer pays up to 50% of the contributions.
Privately insured patients are very welcome in most medical practices, as they guarantee a higher income than so-called statutory health insurance patients. While the contribution to statutory health insurance depends almost exclusively on income, the price for private health insurance depends on the extent of the insured benefit. In addition, the entry age of the insured person is important for the contribution. If you want to compare different private insurances with each other, you need the benefits to be insured and the age of the person to be insured.
Children in private health insurance
In contrast to adults, children are not subject to any regulations regarding health insurance.
This means that children can be covered by private health insurance regardless of their parents’ professional and financial situation. However, in contrast to statutory health insurance, there is no family insurance with exemption from contributions for minors. Conversely, children of private insured persons must therefore be specially insured. This may even be mandatory.
A separate contribution for the children is therefore also due. However, this is considerably lower due to the young age. On average, the contribution for tariffs without a deductible is less than 150 euros.
Decisions have to be carefully considered
People who are not familiar with the topic usually find it difficult to make a decision. People who are considering switching to private health insurance for themselves or their children can also obtain information online. The PKV Kindertarif platform offers suitable information and comparison calculators. A telephone service is also offered here.