To enrol, you need proof of health insurance. If you are under 30 and enrolled at a university, you are usually compulsorily covered by public (statutory) health insurance – for around €142 to €161 a month, depending on the health insurer (Krankenkasse). Here you see what applies to you, what to consider before and after your studies, and how to join online.
Then you are compulsorily insured in statutory student health insurance – no matter where you come from. You choose the health insurer yourself; basic benefits are the same everywhere.
In the application: “No” (never publicly insured in Germany before). Occupational group: student.
Then your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or the British GHIC may be enough. A German public insurer confirms to your university that you are not subject to compulsory insurance. Your benefits then depend on your insurance at home. If you take a job in Germany, this can change.
Germany has health insurance agreements with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and Tunisia. With the entitlement form from your insurer at home, a German insurer can look after you – but this often only covers treatment that is needed immediately. Check carefully whether that is enough for you.
Compulsory student insurance does not apply to these – even if you are enrolled at the Studienkolleg. You usually need private insurance. Once you start your degree and are under 30, you switch to public insurance.
From 30 and for doctoral students there is no compulsory student insurance. If you have a university job above the mini-job limit, you are insured through it as an employee. Otherwise private insurance is usually the only option – we can help you with that.
Under 30, you can apply to a public insurer for exemption within three months of compulsory insurance starting – it then reports the exemption to your university. The exemption applies for your entire studies and cannot be revoked: you only get back into public insurance once you become subject to compulsory insurance again, for example through a job. Private tariffs are often cheap at first, but family members have to be insured individually.
The contribution is calculated the same way for all students – based on the BAföG requirement rate of €855 a month, not on your income. You pay your insurer’s additional contribution in full yourself. If you are under 23, long-term care insurance is slightly cheaper (€30.78 instead of €35.91).
| Insurer’s additional contribution | Health insurance | Long-term care insurance | Total / month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.18% (cheapest insurer) | €106.02 | €35.91 | €141.93 |
| 2.9% (official average) | €112.18 | €35.91 | €148.09 |
| 4.39% (most expensive insurer) | €124.92 | €35.91 | €160.83 |
As of winter semester 2026/27: assessment basis €855 (BAföG requirement), health insurance 10.22% = €87.38 plus additional contribution, long-term care insurance €35.91 (childless from 23; less with children). Additional contributions according to the list of the GKV-Spitzenverband. If the BAföG rate rises, the contribution rises from the following semester. Planned but not yet adopted: under the long-term care reform, the surcharge for childless people is to rise to 0.9 percentage points from 2027 – long-term care insurance would then be €38.48.
For your visa you need proof of insurance. Public insurance only starts with the semester, at the earliest on enrolment. For the time before – arrival, flat hunting, language course – you usually need travel or incoming health insurance.
Click “Apply” in the list below. When asked whether you are currently covered by statutory health insurance, choose “No”; occupational group: student. If you don’t have an address in Germany yet, ask the insurer how to apply.
The insurer reports your insurance status electronically to your university. You usually need your university’s sender number (Absendernummer) for this – it is on the university’s website.
The health insurance card arrives by post; the insurer will ask for a photo. For your residence permit, the insurer gives you a membership certificate.
If your spouse or civil partner and your children live with you in Germany and have little income of their own (2026: up to €565 a month, up to €603 with a mini-job), they are insured free of charge in public health insurance. With private insurance, everyone pays their own premium.
If you work no more than 20 hours a week during the lecture period, you stay in student insurance. Residence law has its own rules on how much you may work – ask your immigration office.
Student insurance ends with the semester in which you are de-registered, or when you leave Germany. With a job you are insured as an employee and choose your insurer again – see New to Germany. Without a job, cover automatically continues on a voluntary basis, costing at least around €270 to €300 a month.
Not sure what applies to you? Write to us – in English, too. We look at your case free of charge.
Sorted by additional contribution – as a student you pay it in full yourself. Choose the federal state of your university or where you live; regional insurers only accept you there. “Apply” opens the online application of our partner VGK24 further down this page, with the insurer already selected.
| 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.
