What does the public system cost you?

How the calculation works

The health insurance contribution consists of a statutory rate of 14.6 % and the supplementary rate that each fund sets for itself. The two together are applied to your gross income — but only up to the contribution ceiling of €5,812.50 a month. If you earn more, the premium stays the same.

On top of that comes long-term care insurance at 3.6 %. Anyone over 23 with no children pays a surcharge of 0.6 percentage points, which the employer does not share. From the second child the rate falls by 0.25 percentage points per child under 25 — by at most a full point.

Employed or self-employed

For employees, employer and employee split the bill in half. The exceptions are the childless surcharge, which you carry alone, and the reduction for children, which benefits you alone.

Self-employed people pay the full premium. And they pay it on a minimum income of €1,318.33 a month, even if they actually earn less. How that produces the notorious back-payment is set out in the article on the back-payment trap.

What the calculator does not cover

Health and long-term care insurance only. Pension and unemployment insurance, and taxes, come on top. The calculation uses the general rate of 14.6 %, which includes sick pay — the self-employed can instead choose the reduced rate of 14.0 % and give up that entitlement. A different split of long-term care insurance applies in Saxony.

Where the figures come from

The statutory rates follow from Social Code Books V and XI (Sozialgesetzbuch V und XI), the calculation parameters from the Sozialversicherungsrechengrößenverordnung 2026. The supplementary rates of the individual funds are published by the GKV-Spitzenverband and change at the turn of the year. If a figure is out of date, please let me know — then I will correct it.