Students with a public health insurance

Students from EU countries who are insured by a public health insurance company in their country of origin can have their health insurance recognised by a public health insurance company in Germany.
As generally, proof is provided by the European Health Insurance Card EHIC (European Health Insurance Card).The European Health Insurance Card applies to the following countries (English country names): Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.

In addition, Germany has signed agreements with the following countries for the recognition of national health insurance (English country names): Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iceland, Israel, Liechtenstein, Morocco, Macedonia, Montenegro, Norway, Switzerland, Serbia, Tunisia and Turkey.

Students with a private health insurance

Students from EU countries who are insured with a private health insurance provider in their country of origin must present a confirmation of this insurance company when enrolling in Germany. In the case of private health insurance, all medical services and medication in Germany must be paid for in advance and then billed to the health insurance company in the country of origin. Applicants who are privately insured in Germany and are not yet 30 years old require a certificate of exemption from statutory health insurance in order to enrol. This exemption is irreversible within the duration of the study stay in Germany. This means that once you have been exempted, you can no longer be admitted to a public health insurance company during your studies. Students from EU countries who are not covered by health insurance in their country of origin must take out health insurance in Germany. Until the 30th birthday this is possible with a public or private health insurance company. A certificate of exemption is required as well.  From your 30th birthday onwards, you can only insure yourself with a private health insurance company.

Students who do not come from EU countries or the above-mentioned countries must take out health insurance in Germany. Until the 30th birthday this is possible with a public or private health insurance provider. From your 30th birthday onwards, you can only insure yourself with a private health insurance provider. Applicants who are privately insured in Germany but are not yet 30 years old need a certificate of exemption from public health insurance to enrol. This exemption is irreversible during a study stay in Germany. This means that you will no longer be covered by a public health insurance.
 

Foreign students who are over 30 years old are not insured by a public health insurance in Germany. These students must take out private health insurance. The private health insurance providers are often more expensive than the public health insurance providers. 

The benefits provided by the various health insurers vary; the costs also differ.
In more general terms: the contribution to the statutory health insurance (Allgemeine Ortskrankenkassen AOK and substitute insurances such as DAK, Barmer, TK, KKH etc.) is approx. 79 - 88  euros per month; the statutory health insurances additionally require a contribution to the nursing insurance of approx. 24 euros per month so that the tariffs are between approx. 103 and 112 euros per month.

With some insurances the insurance protection begins at the earliest with the day of the matriculation. From the time of entry into Germany until the time of matriculation there is no insurance obligation and therefore no insurance cover.

Private health insurance offers more favourable tariffs for foreign exchange students, whereby the achievements and running times can differ.

The best known organisations in the context have agreed on specific offers:

a) The Deutsche Studentenwerk DSW has agreed a tariff with VELA (Union Versicherungsdienst) which takes into account the specific needs of foreign students (health insurance: 29.50 Euro per month for the light tariff, 34.50 Euro per month for the basis tariff and 78 Euro per month for the optimal tariff; liability and accident insurance: 7.50 Euro or 6 Euro per month).

b) Through the Continentale of the Generali Group, the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD offers a tariff (health insurance incl. liability insurance 64 Euro per month, no nursing insurance contributions for the first six months).

As a rule, foreign scholarship holders also have the option of taking out health insurance with their scholarship provider.

In addition to the two private insurances mentioned above, there are numerous other providers of health insurance for foreign exchange students. Two other providers are:

MAWISTA (Allianz worldwide partner) which charges 33.00 or 37.20 euros per month, whereby the slightly higher tariff includes liability and accident insurance and CareCollege (Advigon - Hanse Merkur) which offers monthly rates of 28.00 and 35.00 Euro and charges 4.00 Euro / month for liability and accident insurance.

All prices are of course not binding and are for orientation only.

Version: Winter 2019/20

As the services and rates of the various insurance companies are constantly changing, it is difficult to give recommendations on health insurance. The private providers are often cheaper than the public health insurance providers. However, the services provided by private providers tend to be lower. The billing of services is easier with the public health insurance companies. In the case of private providers, the costs are usually first paid by the patient; the various bills are submitted after treatment and after an examination the costs are reimbursed. Particularly in the case of relatively expensive hospital stays, you may have to advance a relatively large amount of money.  

We strongly advise you to take out a private liability insurance that covers damages during your stay in Germany. This insurance covers any damage you may have caused to another person (e.g. damage to a borrowed item). In addition to liability insurance, accident insurance is also recommended; accident and liability insurance are often offered in combination and the rates are relatively inexpensive. Health insurance, accident and liability insurance are offered by some of the insurance companies mentioned for approx. 40 euros per month.

Please also inquire in your home country whether you can already insure yourself there for your stay abroad.