The best health fund: what you can really compare
On €3,800 gross the cheapest and the most expensive fund open nationwide are €431 a year apart, for the same statutory benefits.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Your fund against the cheapest: over the years
More than at TUI BKK, one year
€180
| Over three years | €540 |
| Over five years | €901 |
| Cheapest fund open nationwide | TUI BKK (2.50 %) |
Your share as an employee with one child; today’s rates, no future changes assumed.
There is no single best statutory health fund (Krankenkasse) in Germany, but there is one thing that can be compared exactly: price. Every statutory fund provides the same compulsory benefits under Book V of the Social Code (SGB V), from doctor visits and hospital care to sick pay, and every fund charges the same general rate of 14.6 %. Only the additional rate (Zusatzbeitrag) differs, today between 2.18 % and 4.39 % among funds open to the public. On €3,800 gross the gap between TUI BKK and BKK24, both open nationwide, is €431 a year in your share, and €659 at the contribution ceiling. Everything beyond that, extra benefits in the fund’s statutes, bonus schemes, optional tariffs and service, also differs but cannot honestly be reduced to one number. The sensible order is therefore: work out the price for your own income first, then check whether the two or three cheapest funds offer what you actually need.
What is the same everywhere
Statutory health insurance is not a tariff market like private cover. Which treatment is paid for is set by SGB V and the guidelines of the Federal Joint Committee, and that applies equally to all 71 funds open to the public: doctors and dentists, hospital care, medicines and aids at the fixed amounts, sick pay from the seventh week of incapacity, check-ups, maternity benefits. The general rate of 14.6 %, pharmacy co-payments and the annual co-payment cap are identical too. Children and a spouse without income are covered free at every fund.
What differs in euros
The additional rate is the only price difference, and it is public: the GKV-Spitzenverband must publish every fund’s rate day by day (section 242(5) SGB V). Because it applies to income up to the ceiling, the gap grows with pay.
| Fund | Additional rate | You pay a month | more a year | more over five years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TUI BKK | 2.50 % | €393 | €0 | €0 |
| Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) | 2.69 % | €397 | €43 | €215 |
| DAK-Gesundheit | 3.20 % | €407 | €160 | €800 |
| BARMER | 3.29 % | €408 | €180 | €900 |
| BKK24 | 4.39 % | €429 | €431 | €2,155 |
Regionally open funds can be cheaper still but are not open to everyone; the calculator with its ranking shows which you can join in your state. The full list can be filtered by state and type of fund.
What cannot honestly be priced
Extra benefits. Each fund may add benefits in its statutes, such as treatment by non-licensed providers like osteopathy, extra check-ups or a higher contribution to fertility treatment (section 11(6) SGB V), plus travel vaccinations (section 20i(2) SGB V). They are usually capped and come with conditions. For most members they make no difference in a given year; for some they matter a lot.
Bonus schemes. Under section 65a SGB V funds reward healthy behaviour with money, rewards or subsidies. Amounts and conditions vary widely and change often.
Optional tariffs. A deductible, a bonus for not claiming, or reimbursement (section 53 SGB V) can pay off for some groups but tie you to the fund for one to three years; the payouts are capped by law.
Service. Reachability, branch offices, the app, how long an approval takes. For many people this matters most and is hardest to measure; experiences of friends and colleagues often tell you more than any ranking.
This site rates none of these and gives no scores. We show only the price, because it is the one figure an official source publishes for every fund, in the same way and every day.
Who feels the price most
What a switch brings depends less on the fund than on your own situation. Employees share the additional rate with their employer and feel only half of it. The self-employed and other voluntary members without an employer pay it in full: on €3,000 profit a month, TUI BKK and BKK24 are €680 a year apart. Pensioners share it with the pension fund; on a €1,600 pension the gap is €181. The difference bites hardest on high incomes up to the ceiling and for anyone paying it alone. If you earn little or are covered through family, a switch gains you little or nothing; for this group service and extra benefits are often the better test.
Choosing a fund in four steps
- Work out your contribution at your current fund and the saving at the cheapest funds in your state.
- Take the two or three cheapest and check on their websites the extra benefits you will really need next year, for a pregnancy, dental cleaning or travel vaccinations, say.
- Count a bonus scheme only at the amount you will realistically earn.
- Check the deadlines: after twelve months’ membership, or when your fund raises its rate, you can switch, and the new fund starts on the first day of the month after next (work out the dates).
Switching costs nothing, ongoing treatment continues, and the new fund notifies the old one itself. Anyone who checks briefly every year after the December decisions almost always ends up at one of the cheaper funds without much effort.