With a pension you can still switch health insurer freely – no health check and no paperwork with the pension insurance. On your state pension you pay half of the additional contribution, on a company pension the full rate. With a €1,500 pension and a €500 company pension, the choice of insurer makes a difference of around €280 a year.
Pensioners follow the same rules as everyone else: after twelve months of membership you can switch at any time, earlier if your insurer raises its contribution. The new insurer has to accept you – no health check, regardless of age or pre-existing conditions. You don't have to cancel yourself; the new insurer takes care of it.
The pension insurance deducts the contributions directly from your pension. The new insurer reports the switch to it, so you don't need to apply for anything there. If you receive a company pension, let the body that pays it know as well, to be on the safe side – for example your former employer or the pension fund.
On your state pension you pay 7.3% plus half of your insurer's additional contribution – the pension insurance pays the other half. You pay long-term care insurance alone: 3.6%, or 4.2% without children.
On company pensions and other pension payments (Versorgungsbezüge) you pay the whole contribution yourself – 14.6% plus the full additional contribution. Compulsorily insured pensioners have an allowance of €197.75 a month in health insurance (2026). This is where a cheap insurer pays off twice.
You are in the health insurance for pensioners (KVdR) if you were publicly insured for at least 9/10 of the second half of your working life. Three years are credited for each child. The health insurer checks this when you apply for your pension.
If you don't meet the 9/10 rule, you are voluntarily publicly insured. Then all income counts towards your contribution – including rent or interest – and there is no allowance on company pensions. You receive a subsidy for your pension from the pension insurance. You can switch in the same way.
Example: €1,500 state pension and €500 company pension a month, compulsorily insured in the KVdR, with children. Your share of health and long-term care insurance combined:
| Insurer | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest insurer (additional contribution 2.18%) | 248,57 € | 2.982,84 € |
| Average (additional contribution 2.9%) | 256,14 € | 3.073,68 € |
| Most expensive insurer (additional contribution 4.39%) | 271,82 € | 3.261,84 € |
As of 2026. Pension: 7.3% plus half the additional contribution, care 3.6%. Company pension: 14.6% plus the full additional contribution on the part above the €197.75 allowance, care 3.6% on the full amount. Between the cheapest and the most expensive insurer there are around €23 a month here – around €280 a year. Without children, long-term care insurance costs 0.6 percentage points more, regardless of the insurer.
If your insurer raises its additional contribution, the pension insurance only deducts the new rate from the month after next. Your special right of termination, however, depends on the date of the increase at the insurer – not on the later deduction. Since 30 July 2026 insurers no longer have to write to you about an increase, so keep an eye on it yourself.
Doctors, hospital and prescriptions continue as normal after the switch. Approvals from your old insurer – for example for medical aids, care aids or transport to treatment – are reviewed again by the new insurer. If something like this is coming up, clarify it with the new insurer before you switch.
If you are privately insured, from 55 you generally cannot return to statutory insurance – not even when your pension starts. Privately insured pensioners have other ways to lower their premium, such as switching tariffs with their own insurer.
From private back to public health insurance →From 2028, covering your spouse or civil partner through family insurance costs a surcharge of 2.5 percentage points – on the state pension from 1 July 2028. No surcharge if your partner has reached the standard retirement age or another exemption applies. The surcharge is the same at all insurers.
All details in the news →Sorted by additional contribution. Choose your federal state – regional insurers only accept you if you live 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 “Currently publicly insured?” and enter your current 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.
