Country information Germany
Health insurance for foreign nationals working in Germany
Nationals of states outside the European Economic Area may in principle only perform work in Germany if their residence permit allows that. Based on so-called employee freedom, workers from almost the entire EU can come to work in Germany without particular formalities.
Eligible group
In principle, temporary stays of foreign nationals in all EU countries, Switzerland and Liechtenstein of up to 5 years can be insured under the following conditions in the travel health insurance as long as they do not belong to the insurable group of the GKV and, in addition, hold a residence permit of no longer than 1 year at a time or, with longer work permits, do not have their permanent residence in Germany (legal basis: §195 (3) VVG).
In principle, it is a matter for the person to be insured to examine their eligibility for insurance.
Legal basics about health insurance for workers in Germany
Anyone living in Germany as a foreign national needs health insurance in accordance with (§193 German Insurance (Policies) Act (VVG)).
Persons employed in Germany in an employment relationship subject to social security are required to have statutory health insurance up to an annual income of the insurance requirement threshold. With a higher income, there is the possibility to take out a (substitutive) private insurance policy in line with the statutory insurance.
Employees in the EU are statutorily health-insured in the country they live and work in. With the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) you get all services provided for in the health insurance system of the host country.
For further informations please click here.
Insurance advice
Overall, the travel health insurance offers a very good spectrum of benefits at comparatively low prices when compared with the statutory or private full health insurance, so it makes sense to review whether there is basically an option to insure under the foreign travel health insurance.
On the one hand, this can only take place with health insurance cover elsewhere or as a supplement to exiting coverage in the home country. A supplement may, for example, make sense if the health insurance in the home country does not represent the performance level of the health service in Germany, whereby there may be significant gaps in the health insurance cover.
The products of Care Concept AG, for example, are suitable in both cases. On the one hand, for short- and medium-term stays the product Care Economy, which offers health insurance cover from as little as €1.03 a day. The product Care Expatriate with varying tariffs meets higher demands with longer stays of at most 5 years. Applications for both can be filed online. There is a simplified health check only for Care Expatriate.
HanseMerkur Reiseversicherung also offers comparable products that are suitable for the group named as temporary insurance cover: HanseMerkur Product.
As some immigration offices insist on indefinite health insurance cover even for temporary visas, or for the event that you are planning an indefinite stay in Germany from the outset, Care Concept AG also offers separate advice on full health insurance. The reason for that is that many German health insurance companies have problems with accepting applications from foreign nationals working in Germany.
|
