The average additional contribution rate: what it is and is not
2.9 % for 2026 and, per the estimate, for 2027 too. Only a few groups actually pay it; everyone else pays their own fund’s rate.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Your fund against the average rate
More than at the average, a year
€89
| BARMER rate | 3.29 % |
| Average rate 2026 | 2.9 % |
| Your monthly share at your fund | €408 |
The average additional contribution rate (durchschnittlicher Zusatzbeitragssatz) is 2.9 % for 2026; the Federal Health Ministry announced it in the Federal Gazette on 10 November 2025, and the estimate of 14 October 2026 gives the same figure on paper for 2027. It comes from a simple division set out in section 242a of Book V of the Social Code: funds’ expected spending minus what the central health fund allocates to them, divided by all members’ contributory income. For 2027 that is 59.8 over 2,067.6 billion euros. It is not an average of what funds charge: today 57 of 71 open funds are above it, and the simple mean of all rates is 3.4 %. Only people on basic income support, workers in sheltered workshops and a few other groups pay it directly. It matters indirectly everywhere: for the employer subsidy to private insurance, for minijobs from 2027 and for midijobs.
A division with very large numbers
Section 242a SGB V gives the formula: expected spending by all funds, minus what the central health fund (Gesundheitsfonds) has available for allocations, divided by members’ expected contributory income, times one hundred. The central fund collects the general rate of 14.6 % from everyone plus a federal grant; whatever funds spend beyond that, they must raise through additional rates. For 2027 the estimating group supplied the ingredients on 14 October 2026 (estimate table):
| 2027 | |
|---|---|
| Spending by health funds | €378.1 bn |
| minus allocations from the central fund | €318.3 bn |
| = gap | €59.8 bn |
| ÷ contributory income | €2,067.6 bn |
| = rate on paper | 2.89 % |
The ministry rounds and publishes the result. For 2026 it was 2.9 % (Federal Gazette, 10 November 2025); the 2027 notice is due by 1 November.
Who pays exactly this rate
For a small group the average really is the rate on the bill. Section 242(3) SGB V lists them: people on basic income support (Grundsicherungsgeld), people in vocational rehabilitation, workers in sheltered workshops whose pay does not exceed the minimum amount, members receiving injury benefit or similar payments, and employees whose contribution the employer pays alone, meaning apprentices on very low pay and volunteers in the youth or federal volunteer service. For them the choice of fund makes no difference on price, because every fund must apply the same rate.
Where else it turns up
| Use | 2026 | 2027 (provisional) |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum employer subsidy to private insurance a month (section 257(2)) | €508.59 | €557.81 |
| Minijob flat rate for health insurance, percent | 13 % | 17.5 % |
| Flat rate on the highest minijob pay | €78.39 | €110.78 |
| Factor F in the transition zone (midijob) | 0.6619 | 0.7683 |
Three uses matter more to many people than the rate itself. Privately insured employees get at most half of what a statutory member at the contribution ceiling would pay at the average rate (section 257 SGB V). For minijobs the employer pays a flat 13 % in 2026; from 2027 the new section 249b SGB V ties it to the general rate plus the average, 17.5 %. And in the transition zone between a minijob and €2,000 the average feeds into the total social insurance rate of 42.3 %, from which factor F is derived (section 20 SGB IV); more in the guide to midijobs.
How far real rates stray
Of 71 open funds, 15 sit within a quarter point of the average and 57 above it. The range runs from 2.18 % to 4.39 %. In euros, on €3,800 gross: at the cheapest fund you pay €164 a year less than at the average rate, at the most expensive €340 more. The mean of all rates, 3.4 %, is unweighted; every small company fund counts as much as the largest substitute fund. The GKV-Spitzenverband list does not publish a membership-weighted average.
Three misunderstandings that come back every autumn
First: “The additional rate will not rise in 2027.” This usually means the official average, which says little about your fund. Each fund does its own sums; the average can stay flat while your fund raises its rate to rebuild reserves, or lowers it because it has a surplus. What counts is your fund’s letter in December and the entry in the list from 1 January.
Second: “My fund is below average, so I am fine.” On price, perhaps, but not necessarily fine enough. The real question is how many funds in your state are cheaper still, and by how many euros. On a middle income, a fund just below average and the cheapest one are often still three figures a year apart.
Third: “My employer pays half, so the rate does not matter to me.” Your employer does pay half the additional rate, but your half comes off your net pay every month and grows with your salary up to the contribution ceiling. Pensioners are in the same position with the pension insurance as the other payer; the self-employed have no other payer at all and feel every tenth of a point twice over.
For your own decision the average is therefore only a landmark. Whether switching pays depends on the gap between your fund and the cheapest one open in your state; the contribution calculator works it out for every fund. When a switch takes effect at the earliest is explained under switching fund.