If you are self-employed as your main occupation, you are no longer compulsorily insured. You decide: voluntary public insurance or private. With a public insurer you pay around €280 to €1,260 a month in 2026 depending on income – and because you pay the additional contribution alone, the choice of insurer makes a difference of up to around €1,540 a year.
When your compulsory insurance ends, it automatically continues as a voluntary membership with your previous insurer. Instead, you can join another insurer within three months or switch later with the notice period. If you want private insurance, you must leave within two weeks of the insurer’s notice.
You can take out voluntary public insurance if you were publicly insured for at least 24 months in the last five years or for the last 12 months without a break. If you have never been publicly insured, private insurance is usually the only option.
It is based on your profit according to your tax assessment – at least €1,318.33 and at most €5,812.50 a month (2026). The insurer first sets the contribution provisionally and settles it finally once the tax assessment is available. As a founder you estimate your income.
Without sick pay you pay 14.0% plus the additional contribution. With a declaration you pay 14.6% and receive sick pay from the 43rd day of illness. From 2027 a three-month waiting period then applies – unless you submit the declaration within 14 days of your membership starting or of becoming self-employed. The declaration and an optional tariff with earlier sick pay bind you for three years.
Through the Künstlersozialkasse (artists’ social insurance fund) you are compulsorily insured if you earn at least €3,900 a year from artistic or journalistic work (the limit doesn’t apply to newcomers). The Künstlersozialkasse pays half, and you choose the health insurer yourself.
If you are employed and become self-employed on the side, you stay compulsorily insured through your job – your self-employed profit then doesn’t count for health insurance. Self-employment is your main occupation if it predominates in time and income – or if you regularly employ at least one employee beyond a mini-job.
You pay the whole contribution yourself – there is no employer paying half. Example with the average additional contribution of 2.9% and long-term care insurance for childless people from 23 (4.2%):
| Income | Without sick pay | With sick pay |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum contribution (up to €1,318.33 a month) | €278.17 a month | €286.08 a month |
| Maximum contribution (from €5,812.50 a month) | €1,226.44 a month | €1,261.31 a month |
Health and long-term care insurance together, as of 2026. With children, long-term care insurance is cheaper. Between the cheapest insurer (2.18%) and the most expensive (4.39%) there are around €29 a month at the minimum contribution and around €128 a month at the maximum – around €1,540 a year. In 2027 minimum and maximum contributions rise with the new values.
The contribution falls when your income falls. Spouses or civil partners and children without income of their own are insured free of charge. No health check, and pre-existing conditions don’t matter.
For young, healthy self-employed people with a good income it is often cheaper and, depending on the tariff, offers more benefits. But the premium depends on age, health and tariff – not on income – and usually rises over the years.
Have private insurance checked without obligation →If you are privately insured as a self-employed person, you only get back if you become subject to compulsory insurance again – for example with employment below the compulsory insurance threshold. From 55 this is usually ruled out.
From private back to public health insurance →Not sure what suits you better? As insurance brokers we compare public insurers and private tariffs. Send us your request – the first conversation is free and without obligation.
Sorted by additional contribution – as a self-employed person you pay it in full yourself. 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, enter your previous insurer and choose the occupational group self-employed.
| 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.
