Who can change now?
Cheapest health insurance company blocked: Six federal states affected
April 16, 2026 – 3:34 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
There are big differences in the additional contributions from health insurance companies. But switching to the currently cheapest health insurance fund is now an obstacle for many insured people.
Setback for BKK Firmus: The health insurance company, which was previously open nationwide, will no longer be allowed to accept insured people from six federal states. Those affected are:
The reason: Company health insurance companies are only allowed to accept insured people in federal states in which their historically grown sponsoring companies have a permanent establishment. This is what health insurance organization law stipulates.
Sponsoring companies are companies that have their own company health insurance company. If the company had plants in Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, it was only allowed to accept insured people in these federal states. Many company health insurance companies have merged in the past, so that most company health insurance companies have complex support structures.
These are regularly checked by the Federal Office for Social Security. This has now determined that the sponsoring companies of BKK Firmus are no longer represented with a plant in every federal state.
Anyone who lives and works in the six federal states mentioned can no longer switch to BKK Firmus. However, if the employer is based in another federal state, a change is still possible – even if you live in one of the affected federal states. Residents of the other ten federal states are still able to switch to BKK Firmus.
However, nothing will change for existing health insurance customers. Even those who live in one of the six affected federal states remain members of the health insurance company.
The decision is still annoying for the Bremen cash register. With an additional contribution of 2.18 percent, BKK Firmus is currently (as of April 2026) the cheapest health insurance company and is well below the average additional contribution of 3.36 percent. A fact that recently brought many new customers to the cash register. Last year, BKK Firmus was able to almost double its membership and now has more than a million insured people. This represents a tenfold increase compared to 2019.
The additional contribution is determined individually by the health insurance companies and is based on their respective financial needs. In competition with other health insurance companies, the additional contribution – in addition to the additional services, service and accessibility – is the argument for encouraging new customers to switch.
