BARMER: additional rate and what you pay each month
BARMER charges an additional rate of 3.29 %; on €3,800 gross that is €408 a month for health and care insurance.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Your contribution at BARMER, 2026
€408
a month · additional rate 3.29 %
| Contributory income | €3,800 |
|---|---|
| Health insurance (14.6 % + 3.29 %), your share | €340 |
| of which BARMER additional rate | €63 |
| Long-term care | €68 |
| You pay a month | €408 |
| Employer adds | €408 |
| A year (your share) | €4,900 |
Cheapest fund open in North Rhine-Westphalia: BKK firmus (2.18 %). You would pay €253 less a year. Rank 18 of 53.
Chosen today: new fund from 1 January 2027, provided you have been a member for at least twelve months.
Step-by-step calculation
- Income €3,800 → contributory €3,800 (ceiling 2026: €5,813 a month).
- Health: 14.6 % general or reduced rate plus 3.29 % BARMER additional rate, split half and half with the employer.
- Care: 3.6 %.
Estimate under Books V and XI of the Social Code. Your fund’s or employer’s calculation is binding. How we calculate
All 53 funds you can join in North Rhine-Westphalia, in euros
| # | Fund | Add. rate | You pay/month | vs today/year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BKK firmus · regional | 2.18 % | €387 | −€253 |
| 2 | BKK Public · regional | 2.50 % | €393 | −€180 |
| 2 | TUI BKK | 2.50 % | €393 | −€180 |
| 4 | hkk | 2.59 % | €395 | −€160 |
| 5 | Audi BKK | 2.60 % | €395 | −€157 |
| 6 | Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) | 2.69 % | €397 | −€137 |
| 7 | WMF BKK | 2.85 % | €400 | −€100 |
| 8 | HEK | 2.89 % | €401 | −€91 |
Minus = you pay less a year than at BARMER. Company funds open only to their own staff are left out.
BARMER, one of Germany’s large substitute funds (Ersatzkassen), is listed by the GKV-Spitzenverband with an additional contribution (Zusatzbeitrag) of 3.29 %. Gross pay up to the contribution ceiling therefore carries 17.89 % health insurance, half paid by you and half by your employer. A member earning €3,800 gross with one child pays €408 a month out of their own pay, care insurance included. The rate is 0.39 points above the official average of 2.9 %, which at that salary means €89 a year. Of the 71 funds anyone can join, BARMER ranks 28. Techniker Krankenkasse is cheaper, DAK-Gesundheit cheaper. BARMER is open in every state, so moving house never affects your membership. Whether a switch pays off for you is shown by the calculator above, using your own salary and state.
Where BARMER sits among the substitute funds
Substitute funds such as BARMER, TK, DAK-Gesundheit and hkk were once reserved for salaried staff in certain trades; today anyone subject to compulsory insurance can join them, in any state. Because benefits are largely fixed by law, the price differs almost only through the additional rate. At 3.29 % BARMER sits in the middle of the list: 27 open funds charge less, 43 the same or more. If your employer has its own company fund (Betriebskrankenkasse), check that too; it is missing from the public ranking. Conversely, a dearer fund is not necessarily a bad deal if its statutes include benefits you really use. The additional rate is simply the part of the price that can be compared in euros.
| Fund | Additional rate | You pay a month | vs BARMER a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| hkk | 2.59 % | €395 | −€160 |
| Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) | 2.69 % | €397 | −€137 |
| DAK-Gesundheit | 3.20 % | €407 | −€21 |
| BARMER | 3.29 % | €408 | · |
BARMER cost by situation
| Situation | Base | Your share a month |
|---|---|---|
| Employed | €2,500 | €269 |
| Employed | €3,800 | €408 |
| Employed, at the ceiling | €5,812.50 | €625 |
| Retired | €1,600 | €201 |
| Self-employed, no sick pay | €3,000 | €627 |
| Student under 23 | €855 | €146 |
Of the monthly contribution of an employee on €3,800, €63 is BARMER’s additional rate; everything else is identical at every fund. Self-employed members feel the rate twice as hard because they pay all of it, so for them the gap to the cheapest open fund, BKK firmus, is correspondingly larger on €3,000 of profit.
A rise at the turn of the year: what BARMER members can do
BARMER sets its 2027 rate in December. If it goes up, you may leave for another fund until the end of the month the new rate starts, even within your first twelve months (special termination right). The fund must write to you beforehand. The deadline calculator gives the start date of a new membership; every rate is in the full list.