Private health insurance companies: Every second person pays significantly more premiums

Contribution increases in 2027

PKV: Every second person will soon pay significantly more

Private health insurance will be significantly more expensive for more than half of those insured in the coming year. What options those affected now have?

While the statutory health insurance (GKV) estimators had positive news to announce for those insured by the GKV last week, many privately insured people will have to pay significantly more for their health insurance in the coming year.

The Association of Private Health Insurance (PKV) expects that full insurance will become more expensive for over half of those insured (53 percent) in 2027 – significantly. The association predicts an average increase of 13.4 percent. While the premiums for those entitled to benefits will rise by an average of 11.4 percent, the PKV Association expects premium increases of an average of 15.3 percent for other insured persons.

Since these are average developments, individual tariffs can become significantly more expensive, while in others the increase in premiums is lower. In recent years, premium increases of up to 40 percent have not been uncommon: for those insured, this sometimes meant additional monthly costs of 150 to 250 euros.

“The adjustments that the private health insurance companies will be informing about in the next few weeks will be noticeable for many insured people,” commented Florian Reuther, director of the private health insurance association, on the forecast development of premiums. For those insured in private health insurance, this is the third noticeable premium adjustment within the past three years. The contributions for 2026 had increased by an average of 13 percent for around 60 percent of the insured. In 2025, contributions increased by an average of 18 percent – around two thirds of the 8.7 million privately insured people were affected.

The reason for the increasing contributions is the same as that which is also causing problems for statutory health insurance companies: the increasing expenditure on services. Insurers had to pay significantly more in 2025, especially for medication (plus 8 percent) and hospital treatment (plus 7.5 percent). This is ultimately reflected in the premiums of the insured.

There are legal reasons for the fact that premium increases in private health insurance are often significant. A premium adjustment is only possible under certain conditions. The cost of benefits must increase significantly more than the insurer’s calculations. In most cases, a limit of ten percent applies.

Only if this is exceeded can the insurer adjust the premium. This mechanism means that contributions do not rise for years or only slightly, but then suddenly rise sharply. In the long term, the increases in contributions to private health insurance and statutory health insurance are comparable, the scientific institute of the PKV Association calculates.

Contributions to private health insurance rose by an average of 3.4 percent per year between 2006 and 2026, while contributions to statutory health insurance rose by 3.9 percent annually. In statutory health insurance, however, it is primarily high earners who are affected by premium increases. The reason is the constantly increasing contribution assessment limit, which states up to which salary health insurance contributions have to be paid. But wage increases also play a role here: those who earn more pay higher contributions to the statutory health insurance. Private health insurance contributions, however, are independent of income.

Even if the premium increases in the two systems are comparable, the sudden explosion in premiums can pose financial problems for those insured. Experts warn against making hasty decisions, such as switching to another insurer.