Switching to private health insurance is not possible for every employee. The prerequisite is that his gross salary is above the so-called compulsory insurance limit. This is also adjusted year by year in accordance with wage and salary developments and will be 6,450 euros per month or 77,400 euros per year in 2026. For comparison: in 2001 it was still 40,000 euros.
However, there are no limits for the self-employed. Regardless of your income, you are free to choose whether you take out statutory or private insurance. The compulsory insurance limit does not apply to civil servants either.
However, these services are not necessarily cheaper. Important to know: In private health insurance, the amount of contributions is calculated based on risk and not income. While in the GKV the level of your income determines the amount of health insurance contributions, private health insurers use your age, state of health and the desired scope of services as a benchmark for calculating premiums.
Switching to private health insurance at an older age also brings with it another disadvantage. The reason is the so-called retirement provisions. Part of the contributions are invested by the insurers. The profits are used to cushion the increase in contributions in old age. Those who only change at an older age have less time to build up retirement savings. As a result, private health insurance becomes significantly more expensive for these people.
There is also no free family insurance like in the GKV in private health insurance. As a rule, you also have to take out private health insurance for your children and pay contributions for them.
The decision to take out private health insurance is usually a decision for life and should therefore be carefully considered. Simply justifying a change with short-term savings opportunities is not enough – after all, the contributions to be paid in old age are significantly higher. A switch to private health insurance should therefore always be preceded by extensive advice from an insurance broker or advisor.
