Health insurance for students

The decisive factor is how you were insured before your studies. In the following, we will introduce you to different options:

• Variant 1: You are privately insured
• Variant 2: As a civil servant you are entitled to benefits
• Variant 3: You have family insurance

You are privately insured

If you were privately insured before your studies, you can choose the student public health insurance and pay around €125 or decide for a student tariff of private health insurance. ottonova student tariffs are starting from less than €111. With private health insurance you’ll get a fair tariff with very good medical services during your studies. Especially if you expect a high starting salary or plan to start your own business after graduation, private health insurance is worthwhile.

As a child of a civil servant, you are entitled to benefits

If you were previously insured in a private health insurance plan, you can continue this plan. At the age of 25, your entitlement to benefits ends and you can change to a favorable student tariff.

If you want to remain in private health insurance after your studies, for example, because you want to become a civil servant, this is the right way to go. A change to public health insurance is only possible after graduation.

You are in the family insurance

In public health insurance of your parents, you remain free of charge family insured until the age of 25. After that you must insure yourself in the student health insurance of public health insurance. Working students who work more than 20 hours per week during the lecture period or earn more than 505 euros per month must insure themselves beforehand.

If you want to remain in public health insurance after your studies, this is a good choice. With private supplementary insurance, you can supplement the benefits of your public health insurance.

ottonova's top-up insurances for hospital and dental treatment ensure you the benefits of a private patient with very good value for money.

Student tariffs are particularly favorable because they do not yet build up aging reserves.

With many insurances, the tariff ends at the age of 34, with ottonova not until the age of 39.

Yes, with ottonova this is no problem at all. With us, you are insured at the student rate until the age of 39.

The situation is different with statutory health insurance. Student health insurance with statutory health insurance funds normally ends when you reach the age of 30.

In individual cases, however, it can be extended beyond this if one of the following reasons applies:

• Completion of voluntary military service immediately between graduation from high school and the start of studies
• Acquisition of the admission requirements for university studies via the second educational pathway
• Participation in university committees
• The birth of a child
• Long-term illness
• Taking care of disabled family members
• Own disabilities

You want to become a civil servant or become self-employed?

Then you should think about private health insurance. If you become an employee with a gross starting salary above the annual income threshold (2024: €69,300), private health insurance is also open to you.

Your starting salary as a salaried employee is not (yet) sufficient for private health insurance?

Then stay in public health insurance and choose a qualifying insurance. This is an inexpensive way to "freeze" your health status and keep your later contribution to private health insurnace low.

1. check requirements

The requirement for taking out private health insurance for students is enrollment at a German university.
Further questions are: How were you insured up to now? Do you want it to stay that way during your studies?

2. plan for the future

How do you want to be insured later?

3. observe deadlines

If you want to take out private health insurance, you must apply for exemption from compulsory insurance within three months of enrolling.

4. set priorities

What is important to you? As a student, you save money in public health insurance because of the free family insurance. However, the GKV benefits do not reach the level of private health insurance.

5. check Bafög subsidy for private health insurance

As a BAföG recipient, you receive a subsidy of 84 euros for health insurance and 25 euros for long-term care insurance.