Switching from private to statutory health insurance: exceptions and options

Switching from private to statutory health insurance: exceptions and options

It is usually not possible to switch from private health insurance back to statutory health insurance. However, there are certain exceptions that allow this step to be taken. Such an exception occurs if privately insured people can prove that they have compulsory insurance. This special right of termination makes it possible to switch to statutory health insurance without the usual notice periods. People who earn above the income limit of 66,600 euros per year are not obliged to take out statutory insurance. However, if your income decreases and falls below this limit, you have the option of taking out statutory insurance.

However, there are restrictions for certain groups of people who cannot easily switch from private to statutory health insurance. This includes people over the age of 55 who have not been legally insured in the last five years or who have been self-employed full-time. These restrictions are intended to prevent people from switching to private health insurance at a young age because of the cheaper premiums and then switching back to statutory health insurance when they get older. If you switch to statutory health insurance, you must have had statutory insurance for at least one day in the past five years.

People with a severe disability of at least 50 percent have the opportunity to apply for voluntary inclusion in statutory health insurance. This application must be made within three months of the discovery of the severe disability. There is also the option of being included in statutory health insurance through family insurance, provided that certain requirements are met, such as life partner's insurance and a limited monthly income for employment subject to social insurance contributions.