At 23 or 25, after a divorce, with your own income or when your partner goes private: free family insurance ends – but your health insurance doesn’t. Here you see why it ends, what happens automatically afterwards, what it costs and how you can still choose a cheaper insurer.
Children are co-insured up to 18, up to 23 if not working, and up to 25 in school, training, studies or voluntary service. Military or voluntary service extends this by twelve months at most. There is no age limit for children with disabilities who cannot support themselves.
Students from 25 →If you regularly earn more than €565 a month (€603 with a mini-job, as of 2026), family insurance ends. In 2027 the limits are expected to rise to around €590 and €633. Total income counts, including rent, interest or pensions.
Separation alone changes nothing. Family insurance through your spouse or civil partner only ends once the divorce is final. Children usually remain co-insured.
If the member through whom you are insured switches to private health insurance or becomes a civil servant, your family insurance ends. Children can also lose cover if the privately insured parent is married and earns above the compulsory insurance threshold and more than the other parent.
If you start paid training or a job above the mini-job limit, you are compulsorily insured yourself – and choose your insurer freely. If you become self-employed as your main occupation, family insurance also ends.
Statutory health insurance for the first time →Family insurance requires residence in Germany. If the member dies, it also ends – anyone who then receives a survivor’s pension is often insured through the pension. Ask your insurer or us about your case.
With a job, training, studies or unemployment benefit, you are a member in your own right from then on. You choose the insurer freely – tell your employer within two weeks of starting. For employees, the employer pays half the contribution.
In the application: “Yes”, plus your previous insurer.
Without new compulsory insurance, your cover continues the next day as a voluntary membership with your previous insurer – without an application, so you are never without cover. You can only leave if you prove other cover, such as private insurance, within two weeks of the insurer’s notice.
As a voluntary member you pay the contribution yourself, calculated on all your income – wages, rent, interest, pensions. If you are married and your partner is privately insured, part of their income may also count.
Even without income, in 2026 the insurer assumes at least €1,318.33 a month. Without entitlement to sick pay that is 14.0% plus the additional contribution, plus long-term care insurance – together around €270 to €300 a month without children.
You pay the additional contribution in full yourself. At the minimum contribution, there are around €29 a month between the cheapest and the most expensive insurer – around €350 a year.
Sorted by additional contribution. Choose your federal state – regional insurers only accept you if you live or work there. “Apply” opens the online application of our partner VGK24 further down this page, with the insurer already selected. In the application, answer “Yes” to whether you are currently covered by statutory health insurance and enter your previous insurer.
| Insurer | Additional contribution | Total rate | Open in | Online application |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BKK firmus | 2.18% | 16.78% | Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt | Apply → |
| AOK Rheinland-Pfalz/Saarland | 2.47% | 17.07% | Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland | Apply → |
| BKK Faber-Castell & Partner | 2.48% | 17.08% | Bavaria | Apply → |
| hkk | 2.59% | 17.19% | nationwide | Apply → |
| Audi BKK | 2.60% | 17.20% | nationwide | Apply → |
| AOK Bayern | 2.69% | 17.29% | Bavaria | Apply → |
| Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) | 2.69% | 17.29% | nationwide | Apply → |
| BKK Schwarzwald-Baar-Heuberg | 2.79% | 17.39% | Baden-Württemberg | Apply → |
| AOK Sachsen-Anhalt | 2.89% | 17.49% | Saxony-Anhalt | Apply → |
| HEK | 2.89% | 17.49% | nationwide | Apply → |
| AOK Hessen | 2.98% | 17.58% | Hesse | Apply → |
| AOK Niedersachsen | 2.98% | 17.58% | Lower Saxony | Apply → |
| AOK Baden-Württemberg | 2.99% | 17.59% | Baden-Württemberg | Apply → |
| AOK NordWest | 2.99% | 17.59% | North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein | Apply → |
| BKK Freudenberg | 2.99% | 17.59% | Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony | Apply → |
| AOK PLUS | 3.10% | 17.70% | Saxony, Thuringia | Apply → |
| DAK-Gesundheit | 3.20% | 17.80% | nationwide | Apply → |
| AOK Bremen/Bremerhaven | 3.29% | 17.89% | Bremen | Apply → |
| AOK Rheinland/Hamburg | 3.29% | 17.89% | Hamburg, North Rhine-Westphalia | Apply → |
| BARMER | 3.29% | 17.89% | nationwide | Apply → |
| Salus BKK | 3.29% | 17.89% | nationwide | Apply → |
| BKK EUREGIO | 3.39% | 17.99% | Hamburg, North Rhine-Westphalia | Apply → |
| IKK gesund plus | 3.39% | 17.99% | nationwide | Apply → |
| BKK Gildemeister Seidensticker | 3.40% | 18.00% | nationwide | Apply → |
| BKK Herkules | 3.48% | 18.08% | Bavaria, Hesse, Lower Saxony | Apply → |
| R+V BKK | 3.49% | 18.09% | nationwide | Apply → |
| AOK Nordost | 3.50% | 18.10% | Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | Apply → |
| BKK mkk | 3.50% | 18.10% | nationwide | Apply → |
| novitas bkk | 3.60% | 18.20% | nationwide | Apply → |
| BAHN-BKK | 3.65% | 18.25% | nationwide | Apply → |
| SKD BKK | 3.65% | 18.25% | Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein | Apply → |
| BIG direkt gesund | 3.69% | 18.29% | nationwide | Apply → |
| Pronova BKK | 3.70% | 18.30% | nationwide | Apply → |
| KKH | 3.78% | 18.38% | nationwide | Apply → |
| Bergische Krankenkasse | 3.79% | 18.39% | Hamburg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia | Apply → |
| BKK ProVita | 3.79% | 18.39% | nationwide | Apply → |
| vivida bkk | 3.79% | 18.39% | nationwide | Apply → |
| SBK | 3.80% | 18.40% | nationwide | Apply → |
| IKK classic | 3.85% | 18.45% | nationwide | Apply → |
| mhplus BKK | 3.86% | 18.46% | Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia | Apply → |
| IKK Südwest | 3.87% | 18.47% | Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland | Apply → |
| BKK Mobil | 3.89% | 18.49% | nationwide | Apply → |
| BKK VerbundPlus | 3.89% | 18.49% | nationwide | Apply → |
| BKK melitta hmr | 3.90% | 18.50% | Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein | Apply → |
| BKK Pfalz | 3.90% | 18.50% | nationwide | Apply → |
| Heimat Krankenkasse | 3.90% | 18.50% | nationwide | Apply → |
| SECURVITA BKK | 3.90% | 18.50% | Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Hamburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia | Apply → |
| energie-BKK | 3.98% | 18.58% | nationwide | Apply → |
| BKK Wirtschaft & Finanzen | 3.99% | 18.59% | Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony | Apply → |
| VIACTIV Krankenkasse | 4.19% | 18.79% | nationwide | Apply → |
| IKK – Die Innovationskasse | 4.30% | 18.90% | nationwide | Apply → |
| Knappschaft | 4.30% | 18.90% | nationwide | Apply → |
| BKK24 | 4.39% | 18.99% | nationwide | Apply → |
Additional contribution 2026 according to the list of health insurers published by the GKV-Spitzenverband, retrieved on 1 November 2026. Listed are the 53 insurers we arrange via our partner VGK24 (out of 71 insurers open to the public) – sorted by additional contribution, not by remuneration. You will find all insurers in the full list. Benefits differ – compare contribution and benefits before you decide.
