German health insurance for employees

By Nicolas Bouliane

If you work in Germany, you must have health insurance. This guide helps you choose the best health insurance for employees.

Your options

Employees must get public or private health insurance. Expat health insurance is not accepted. Use my health insurance picker to compare options.

Your options depend on your income:

What is the best option?

Your health insurance is not tied to your job. Your employer does not decide which health insurance you can have. If you lose your job, you keep your health insurance.

For a visa or residence permit

You must get insured before you apply for a National Visa or residence permit.

For a Blue Card or work visa

To apply for a Blue Card or a work visa, you have a few options:

  • If you already live in Germany
    You can keep your current public or private health insurance.
  • If you move from another EU country
    Your health insurance from your home country usually covers you until you start working.9 It might be cheaper than German health insurance. When you start working, you need public or private health insurance.
  • If you move from a non-EU country
    You might need expat health insurance for your National Visa application.4 It covers you until you start working. When you start working, your public or private health insurance covers you.

Ask my insurance expert to find the right combination of health insurances. It’s the easiest way to choose. This is a free service.

How to apply for a Blue Card

How to apply for a work visa

For an opportunity card

To apply for a Chancenkarte, you have 3 options:12

  • Expat health insurance 
    If you don’t have a job offer, it’s impossible to get public or private health insurance. Get expat health insurance for your visa application, and switch to public or private when you start working.8
  • Travel health insurance + public health insurance
    If you have a job, you can already get public health insurance.11 Travel insurance covers you from the day you arrive in Germany to the day you start working.13 After you start working, your public health insurance covers you. After you start working, your public health insurance covers you.
  • Private health insurance
    If you have a job offer, and you earn more than €73,800 per year, you can get private health insurance. Private can be better or cheaper than public.

Feather sells valid public and expat health insurance. I work with them since 2018. You can also ask my insurance expert to find the best insurance for you. It’s the safest way to choose.

Some blocked accounts include health insurance. It’s rarely the best option. Choose health insurance separately.

List of expat insurance options

For a job seeker visa

If you are moving to Germany, you need expat health insurance for your visa application. When you start working, you must switch to public or private health insurance.

If you already live in Germany, you can keep your current health insurance. When you start working, you must have public health insurance. If you earn more than €73,800 per year, you can also have private health insurance.

For a Working Holiday Visa

To apply for a Working Holiday Visa, you need expat health insurance. It must cover you for the entire time you are in Germany.5

Expat health insurance options

When you start working, you must switch to public health insurance.6 If you make more than €73,800 per year, you can choose private health insurance instead. If you have a minijob, you can stay on expat health insurance.7

For a Youth Mobility Visa

See the requirements for a Working Holiday Visa

For a minijob

If you have a minijob, you can choose…

Public is usually the best option.10 You can get free health insurance. Otherwise, you pay the minimum amount: around €230 per month. Your employer does not help you pay for health insurance.1

For an internship

If it’s a mandatory internship during your studies, you keep your student insurance. Your employer does not pay half of it.15

If it’s a mandatory internship before or after your studies:17

If it’s a voluntary internship, it’s treated like a normal job. You have the same options as an employee.18 If you don’t get paid, you have the same options as an unemployed student, and you don’t get help from your employer.19

If you lose your job

If you lose your job, you keep your health insurance. The coverage does not change.

If you have public health insurance, it becomes cheaper, because the cost is proportional to your income. You might get free health insurance. Otherwise, you pay the minimum amount: around €230 per month.

If you have private health insurance, the cost stays the same, but your employer stops paying half of it. If you get unemployment benefits, you must usually switch to public health insurance.

Health insurance when unemployed

How to get insured

You must get health insurance before you apply for a residence permit, and before you start working. Your employer will ask for it.

Your employer can help you get insured. This is a bad idea. They choose what is easy for them, not what is best for you.2

Ask my insurance expert to help you choose. It’s the safest option.

How to get insured

Sources and footnotes

  1. minijob-zentrale.de (February 2025) ⤴

  2. Seamus Wolf (April 2025), Emily Archer (April 2025) ⤴

  3. Seamus Wolf (April 2025), finanztip (February 2025), verbraucherzentrale.de (2024) ⤴

  4. Seamus Wolf (April 2025), Feather Insurance (June 2025) ⤴

  5. Feather Insurance ⤴

  6. Dr. Rob Schumacher (November 2023), personal experience (2015) ⤴

  7. Dr. Rob Schumacher (November 2023) ⤴

  8. Feather Insurance (June 2025), Feather Insurance (June 2025), Seamus Wolf (June 2025), Dr. Rekha Singh (June 2025), Expatrio (June 2025) ⤴

  9. Feather Insurance (2023) ⤴

  10. Dr. Rob Schumacher (April 2025) ⤴

  11. Federal Foreign Office (June 2025), Feather Insurance (June 2025) ⤴

  12. Federal Foreign Service (June 2025), Feather Insurance (June 2025) ⤴

  13. Federal Foreign Service (June 2025) ⤴

  14. Techniker Krankenkasse (March 2025), §20 Abs. 3 SGB IV, praktikum-guide.com (April 2025), haufe.de (April 2025) ⤴

  15. student-kv.de (April 2023) ⤴

  16. praktikum-guide.com (April 2025) ⤴

  17. DAK (April 2025), check24.de (April 2025) ⤴

  18. meinpraktikum.de (April 2025), student-kv.de (April 2025) ⤴

  19. check24.de (April 2025) ⤴