Private health insurance for the self-employed.

There are three obvious advantages.

1. You can trust that the level of coverage won't change. Public health insurance policyholders have to accept that their coverage may be restricted at any time by the state. The coverage that is listed in your policy when your insurance kicks in is guaranteed for life.
2. Private health insurance is fair to all generations. You use your old-age provisions to finance your own healthcare costs in old age, and thus do not burden the next generation.
3. In many cases, private health insurance is cheaper than public health insurance, despite offering better coverage.

Of course, your family is very welcome at ottonova. We have even come up with some special advantages for children and teenagers!

We have structured our plans such that your children will also get optimal coverage.

If you insure your family privately, you will need to pay a separate premium for each family member. As an employee, you will also get an allowance from your employer for your family's premiums.

All private health insurers invest a large part of their premiums to increase the amount of money that will be required to cover the higher healthcare costs in old age. Currently, an actuarial interest rate greater than 2.5% is expected on the market. However, this does not correspond to interest rates for investments at this time. Consequently, premiums that were once cheaper will inevitably become more expensive in the future in order to compensate for these losses.

ottonova expects an interest rate of 1.25%, which corresponds to the current capital market. Our premiums are, therefore, not much cheaper today, but they will also be more stable. That’s because we are likely to increase the money in the same way we have calculated it.

Switching to ottonova is very easy and can be done entirely online. But don't worry; you can't subscribe unintentionally with one accidental click. You also have the right to revoke your policy within 14 days.

1. Online assistant: Use our online assistant. The assistant will help you to choose the right plan with the add-ons that work for you.
2. Account: Create an account to get a personalized quote.
3. Information: Enter some personal information and answer questions about your health. This will take 10 minutes at most.
4. Confirmation: Check and confirm your details in the overview.
5. Verification: Our application team will contact you if they have any questions about your health information.
6. Quote: Receive and confirm our final quote.
7. Account details: Enter your account details and download some documents.
8. Request PIN: Request a one-time PIN and subscribe to your selected plan with one click.

Don't worry, both your premiums and your data are safe! ottonova, lawmakers, and the association of private health insurance funds have taken the following measures to protect you:

Approval of the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin): Like every insurance company, ottonova is officially certified and authorized. As a result, we are subject to the same strict requirements as any other health insurance fund, and we are obliged to continuously demonstrate that we have enough capital to guarantee your long-term insurance cover.

ottonova itself is also insured. Imagine this unlikely scenario. A policyholder requires very expensive treatment costing millions. This is an extraordinary burden for the entire community of policyholders. For such a case, we have taken out reinsurance with GenRe, the oldest reinsurance company in the world. This means that ottonova, and all our policyholders, are optimally covered.

Better safe than sorry. All these provisions mean that no private health insurance company has ever had to file for bankruptcy, and it is very unlikely to happen in the future. Nonetheless, we've also made provisions for the worst-case scenario, in the form of a guarantee fund.

All private health insurance companies are members of a guarantee fund by Medicator AG. Should a health insurance company become insolvent, this fund will take over its policies, and will allow the coverage to continue unchanged. And what’s more, the capital you have saved (old-age provisions) will always remain untouchable. This is being monitored on an ongoing basis by independent trustees.

You will be able to change your plan at any time, even during the minimum contract term. If you switch to a higher level of insurance cover, we will perform further medical underwriting for the additional coverage.

Take another look at the various plans.

No. If you are required to take out public health insurance, if you move abroad, or if your premium is adjusted, you won't be required to adhere to the minimum term and you will be able to terminate the policy prematurely or to convert it into insurance for reinstatement of health care coverage after suspension (Anwartschaftsversicherung) or supplementary insurance.

• Health insurance premium: From the age of 60 the statutory surcharge ceases to apply.
• The daily sickness allowance ceases from the start of retirement.
• From then on, the premium relief component will reduce your premium month by month.
• Health insurance subsidy: Retirees receive a subsidy of 7.3% from the retirement insurance fund as part of their retirement.

Yes, provided you are not yet 55 years of age, and you are required to have health insurance. However, switching back to public health insurance may have its disadvantages. We would be happy to advise you on the subject. It's much harder to switch from the age of 55. Lawmakers have taken measures in this regard by introducing the basic coverage plan (Basistarif).

The so-called basic coverage plan was introduced in 2009. The basic coverage plan is like public health insurance in the private sector for private policyholders who are unable to pay their premiums, or who do not wish to pay more than they would for public health insurance. The coverage is identical to that offered by public health insurance. If you are in need of assistance, you may switch from a normal plan to the basic coverage plan.

If you don't wish to pay more than you would for public health insurance, you may do so from the age of 55 even if you are not in need of assistance. Thanks to the old-age provisions which you have accumulated over a long policy term, your basic coverage plan premium will be significantly below the maximum premium you would pay for public health insurance.

If you plan to go on a trip: ottonova offers you health insurance cover abroad in all three full insurance tariffs.