Health insurance contribution rate: how it is built and who pays it
14.6 % for everyone plus your fund’s additional rate, today 2.18 % to 4.39 %; employees and employers each pay half.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Your fund’s contribution rate
Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) total rate
17.29 %
| Your share | 8.645 % |
| Health insurance, your share a month | €329 |
| Employer adds | €329 |
The contribution rate of German statutory health insurance has two parts. The general rate (allgemeiner Beitragssatz) of 14.6 % is set by law and the same at every fund (section 241 of Book V of the Social Code). On top comes the additional contribution (Zusatzbeitrag) that each fund sets itself; according to the GKV-Spitzenverband list it currently ranges from 2.18 % to 4.39 % among open funds. With the official average of 2.9 % the total is 17.5 %. Since 2019 employees and employers have split both parts equally, so your share is 8.75 % of gross pay up to the contribution ceiling; on €3,800 that is €332.50 a month. Members with no right to sick pay pay the reduced rate of 14 %, students seven tenths of the general rate, 10.22 %. Long-term care insurance comes on top at 3.6 % and is not part of the health contribution.
Two building blocks, one rate
The health contribution has a fixed part and a variable part. The fixed part is the general rate of 14.6 % (section 241 SGB V); it goes into the central health fund (Gesundheitsfonds), which shares the money among all funds by the age, sex and illnesses of their members. The variable part is the additional rate (section 242 SGB V): each fund sets it to close the gap between its allocations and its spending. Funds differ in price only in this part.
| Fund | General | Additional | Total rate | Your share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) | 14.6 % | 2.69 % | 17.29 % | 8.645 % |
| BARMER | 14.6 % | 3.29 % | 17.89 % | 8.945 % |
| DAK-Gesundheit | 14.6 % | 3.20 % | 17.8 % | 8.9 % |
| AOK Bayern | 14.6 % | 2.69 % | 17.29 % | 8.645 % |
| IKK classic | 14.6 % | 3.85 % | 18.45 % | 9.225 % |
| KNAPPSCHAFT | 14.6 % | 4.30 % | 18.9 % | 9.45 % |
Between the cheapest and the most expensive open fund lie 2.21 points. On €3,800 gross that is €41.99 a month for you, and the same again for your employer.
Three rates for three situations
Not everyone pays the general rate. The law has three levels, and each gets the fund’s full additional rate on top:
| Rate | Level | Who | Example a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| General (section 241) | 14.6 % | Employees, pensioners, self-employed with sick pay | €332.50 share on €3,800 gross |
| Reduced (section 243) | 14 % | Members without sick pay, such as the self-employed | €507.00 on €3,000 profit |
| Students (section 245) | 10.22 % | Compulsorily insured students | €112.18 on €855 |
The reduced rate is not a discount but the price of giving up sick pay: whoever pays it gets no wage replacement from the fund during a long illness. Self-employed members can opt into the general rate and then receive sick pay from week seven; whether that pays off is covered in the guide to voluntary membership. For students the rate is cut to seven tenths and the base is a fixed amount instead of actual income (health insurance for students).
Who pays which share
For employees, worker and employer split the whole rate in half (section 249 SGB V), general part and additional rate alike. This has applied since January 2019; before that employees paid the additional rate alone. For pensioners the pension insurance pays half the contribution on the state pension, but not on company pensions, which carry the full rate alone. Self-employed voluntary members and students pay everything themselves. Employees above the compulsory insurance threshold who stay in the statutory system voluntarily get an employer subsidy of half, which comes to the same thing (employer share).
How the rate shows up on your payslip
Your payslip rarely shows the rate as one figure. Usually there is a health insurance line with your share in euros, often next to half the total rate in percent, and a separate line for care insurance. To check it, divide the euro amount for health insurance by the month’s contributory gross pay and double the result; that gives your fund’s total rate. If it differs from the official list, the reason is usually simple: pay fell in the transition zone, there was a one-off payment, or the fund changed its rate during the month. Pensioners see the deduction on their pension adjustment notice, voluntary members on the fund’s contribution notice.
The contribution within social insurance as a whole
On a payslip health insurance is only one of four lines. Together pension, unemployment, care and health insurance at the average additional rate take 42.3 % of gross pay:
| Insurance | Total rate | Your share |
|---|---|---|
| Pension insurance | 18.6 % | 9.3 % |
| Unemployment insurance | 2.6 % | 1.3 % |
| Long-term care (with a child) | 3.6 % | 1.8 % |
| Health insurance at the average | 17.5 % | 8.75 % |
| Total | 42.3 % | 21.15 % |
Pension and unemployment insurance have a higher contribution ceiling than health insurance, so at high pay the percentages no longer hold for every line. The additional rate is the only part of this bill you can influence through your choice of fund; which fund in your state charges what is shown in the list of all additional rates, and the amount for your income in the contribution calculator.