Health Insurance for Self‐Employed

The amount you pay for private health insurance depends on your age, the level of coverage you want, and how healthy you are. This means that younger people, especially those with higher income, will likely find a much better balance of coverage/service and price in private insurance policies than they would in public health insurance.

Private health insurance companies also offer more flexible coverage — you can choose individual services according to your circumstances, only paying for what you need.

Freelancers and the self-employed generally opt for private health insurance coverage. This is, in part, because self-employed people tend to be young and healthy but also because of these benefits of private insurance:

Another significant benefit is that the cost of basic private coverage (equivalent to that of public health insurance) is fully tax deductible. Your contributions are considered special expenses, and you can add them to your tax return. The health insurance company will decide the exact amount that can be deducted (depending on the services) and issue you a tax certificate every year.

Your contribution to public health insurance is calculated as a percentage of your gross income, specifically 14.6 %. Public health insurance companies are also allowed to charge an additional contribution wich is 1.6 % in 2023. An additional 3.3% is charged for compulsory nursing care insurance as well.

There are several disadvantages of public health insurance for freelancers and self-employed individuals:

Because the contribution is based on income, high earners will have to pay much more, up to the maximum amount of 927,68 € per month.

A public health insurance policy might be more cost effective if you have a family, as it will cover all of your dependents. But the coverage and service may not meet the standards of a private plan.