No health insurance contributions from your job
Your working-student job is free of health, long-term care and unemployment insurance contributions – however much you earn. You only pay into pension insurance, and your employer pays half of that.
Working student?
How to be properly health insured.
As a working student (Werkstudent) you pay no health or long-term care insurance contributions from your job – as long as you work no more than 20 hours a week during the lecture period. You are still insured: through your parents or yourself as a student. If you earn more than €565 a month, family insurance ends – then you need your own insurer for around €142 to €161 a month.
Key facts at a glance
Health insurance as a working student
The 20-hour rule
No more than 20 hours a week during the lecture period. More is possible if you mainly work evenings, nights, weekends or during semester breaks – but then for no more than 26 weeks in twelve months. In case of doubt, the health insurer decides.
Under 25: through your parents – up to €565
If you are under 25 and regularly earn no more than €565 a month (€603 in a mini-job, as of 2026), you stay family-insured through your parents free of charge.
Earning more? Then your own insurer
If your working-student pay is above that, family insurance ends – even before 25. You are then in student health insurance and choose your insurer yourself. Because you pay the additional contribution in full, a cheap insurer pays off.
In the application: “Yes”, plus your parents’ insurer. Occupational group: student.
From 25: nothing changes
If you are already insured yourself as a student, that stays the same. The job doesn’t change your contribution as long as you keep to the 20-hour rule.
Students from 25 →From 30: sort it out yourself
Student insurance ends with the semester in which you turn 30. Your working-student job does not insure you, though. You are then usually insured voluntarily – contribution based on your income, at least around €270 to €300 a month – or privately.
Costs
What student health insurance costs
If family insurance ends, you pay the student contribution – regardless of how much you earn as a working student. It is based on the BAföG requirement rate of €855 a month.
| 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.
Special cases
More hours, dual study, internship and graduation
Regularly more than 20 hours
Then you are no longer a working student but insured through your job like an employee. Your employer pays half the contribution, and you choose the insurer yourself.
Dual study programme
In a dual study programme you are compulsorily insured like an employee through your training company. You choose the insurer yourself, and the employer pays half.
Mandatory internship
For an internship required by your study regulations, no health or long-term care insurance contributions are due. A voluntary internship during your studies is treated like a working-student job.
After graduation
The working-student privilege ends with the month in which you are officially notified of your overall final exam result – or with de-registration. If you keep working, you are insured as an employee from then on and choose your insurer again.
Statutory health insurance for the first time →Between Bachelor’s and Master’s
If there is a gap between your Bachelor’s and Master’s, you are usually not a student during that time. A job is then insured like an employee’s. If in doubt, ask your insurer.
International students
The same rules apply to you. However, residence law has its own limits on how much you may work – more on the page International students.
Insurers with online application
Cheap health insurer for working students
Sorted by additional contribution – as a student you pay it in full yourself. Choose your federal state; regional insurers only accept you there. “Apply” opens the online application of our partner VGK24 further down this page, with the insurer already selected.
53 insurers
| 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.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about health insurance as a working student
Do I have to pay health insurance as a working student?
Not from your job – as long as you work no more than 20 hours a week during the lecture period. You still have to be insured: free through your parents if you are under 25 and earn no more than €565 a month, otherwise yourself in student health insurance for around €142 to €161 a month.
Do I stay family-insured as a working student?
Only if you are under 25 and your income is regularly no more than €565 a month (€603 in a mini-job, as of 2026). Many working students earn more – then family insurance ends and you choose your own insurer.
What happens if I work more than 20 hours?
Occasionally more is allowed – mainly evenings, nights, weekends or during semester breaks, for no more than 26 weeks in twelve months in total. If you regularly work more, you are insured like an employee and pay contributions from your wages, your employer the other half.
What is deducted from my working-student pay?
For social insurance, only your share of pension insurance. Health, long-term care and unemployment insurance don’t apply. Income tax may be added depending on how much you earn.
Can I choose my health insurer as a working student?
Yes. If your family insurance ends, you choose your insurer freely – you don’t have to stay with your parents’ insurer. You can also choose the AOK where your university is.
I’m over 30 and a working student – how am I insured?
Student insurance no longer applies, and the working-student job doesn’t insure you. You are usually insured voluntarily with a public insurer; the contribution depends on your income and is at least around €270 to €300 a month. Private insurance is an alternative.
What changes after graduation?
The working-student privilege ends with the month in which you are officially notified of your overall result. If you keep working, you are insured as an employee from then on – and can choose your insurer again.
What does your help cost?
Nothing for you. The list, comparison and application are free of charge. If a membership is arranged through us, we receive a fee from the health insurer – not from you.