HEK health insurance: additional rate, cost and switching

HEK at a glance

The additional rate is the only part of the health contribution that differs between funds. The general rate, the contribution ceiling and the care contribution are the same at HEK as at TK, BARMER or an AOK. What HEK membership costs therefore depends only on its rate and your income; statutory benefits under SGB V are identical at every fund, while extra benefits in the statutes and bonus schemes differ.

What HEK costs on your salary

Above the ceiling of €5,812.50 the contribution stops rising, however high the salary. On €5,500 you pay €580 a month at HEK, €79 of it additional rate. Childless people aged 23 and over add the care surcharge, and in Saxony the employee care share is higher. For pensions, self-employment and students:

Where you can join HEK

As a substitute fund, HEK is not tied to a state or an employer. The official list shows it as open in all 16 states: someone living in Kiel can choose it just as well as someone in Passau, and the calculator ranking lists it in every state. Unlike an AOK or a regional company fund, your address does not matter, and moving within Germany changes nothing. Besides the rate, what matters is whether you need local branch offices or handle everything online; that cannot be priced in euros, so it stays your own judgement. Before switching, also check any optional tariff, since a deductible ties you longer than the usual twelve months.

How to switch to HEK

First, check that you may switch: you can if you have been with your current fund for twelve months or it has raised its additional rate. Second, apply for membership at HEK; you do not cancel at your old fund yourself, HEK reports the switch. Third, membership starts on the first day of the month after next. Fourth, employees tell their employer the new fund; pensioners and family members covered free of charge need do nothing more. The deadline calculator works out the exact date. Leaving HEK works the same way in reverse, and coming back later is possible after another twelve months at the new fund.

2027: what a rate rise would cost

HEK sets its 2027 rate in December; the official list shows it only from the day it applies. What the outlook for next year holds is under additional rate 2027. If HEK raises its rate in January, its members have the special termination right, even within the twelve-month tie-in. This small calculator shows what a rise of a few tenths of a point would cost you a year:

What a rate increase costs you

Gross pay a month

€

Increase

points

Extra a year, your share

€68

Extra a month	€6
Employer pays on top	€6
Contributory (2027 ceiling)	€3,800
Points	0.30

Compare every fund for your income →

Two averages that are easily confused

“The average” can mean two different numbers. The official average additional rate under section 242a SGB V is derived each autumn from the estimate of statutory health insurance income and spending and published in the Federal Gazette. The actual mean, by contrast, comes from the rates funds really charge and currently stands at 3.4 %, with the median at 3.4 %. At 2.89 %, HEK sits between these values and its neighbours in the ranking:

More on the role of the official figure and its level in recent years is under average additional rate.