Travel vaccinations
Which health insurer pays for travel vaccinations?
For holidays only as a voluntary extra.
Vaccinations for private travel are not among the mandatory benefits. But insurers may cover them voluntarily, and many do. It is different if your job or your training requires the stay abroad.
Author: Jan Ortgies · As of 11 November 2026 · If a switch comes about through our comparison, we receive a fee from the new insurer, not from you.
For everyone
What every insurer pays
- Standard vaccinations
- Every insurer pays for the recommended standard vaccinations, regardless of travel.
- Work and training
- If your stay abroad is required by your job or training, for example a compulsory semester abroad, you are entitled to the vaccinations the vaccination directive provides for it. A voluntary stay abroad does not automatically count, so ask beforehand.
- Protecting the public
- The same applies to vaccinations meant to prevent a disease being brought into Germany, such as polio.
- Private travel
- For holidays, travel vaccinations and travel health advice are not a mandatory benefit.
Voluntary
What insurers add voluntarily
- Voluntary benefit
- The law expressly allows insurers to provide further vaccinations in their rules. Many therefore cover travel vaccinations in full or in part.
- Ask beforehand
- Insurers differ in which vaccinations they pay for and whether both the vaccine and the doctor’s fee are reimbursed. Ask early and keep the receipts.
- Extras can change
- Voluntary benefits are set out in the insurer’s rules (Satzung). It can change or drop them, and when you switch, the new insurer’s rules apply. Ask before treatment what currently applies.
- Check in the comparison
- In the calculator below, pick “Travel Vaccinations” under “Selected benefits”. You then see, for the insurers listed there, whether and up to what amount they contribute according to the calculator. Only the insurer’s own information is binding.
Other benefits
What else does the insurer pay?
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Does public health insurance pay for travel vaccinations?
Which travel vaccinations are covered?
Do I have to pay upfront?
What does your help cost?
This page is general information based on our own research, without guarantee, and does not replace individual advice, legal or tax advice, medical advice or information from your insurer. Which voluntary benefits an insurer pays is set out in its rules and can change.
Sources: § 20i SGB V · G-BA: vaccination directive (German) · IGeL-Monitor: travel health care (German)
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for the comparison
You don't have to cancel your old health insurance yourself. Your new insurer handles the entire cancellation. You just briefly tell your employer which insurer you're switching to – the new insurer then sends them the membership certificate (Mitgliedsbescheinigung) electronically.
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