Private Health Insurance for Children in Germany [2025 Ultimate Guide]

Key takeaways

• Everyone living in Germany is legally required to have valid health insurance.
• Children can get public or private health insurance depending on their parent’s health insurance.
• Children’s health insurance costs between 100 € and 250 € in Germany.
• Private health insurance companies don’t do a health check if the child is insured within 2 months of birth. The prerequisite is that the child’s health insurance company is the same as one of its parents.

This is how you do it

• Check which health insurance, public or private, you want or can get for your child.
• The simplest way to insure your child is with your health insurance company. You only need to inform your health insurer about your child’s birth.
• We find TK the best public health insurance provider for expats. Its website, mobile app, and customer service are in English. You can register with TK online.
• We recommend getting private health insurance via an insurance broker. They are experts and can help you find the best plan for your needs. You can book a call with an expert we recommend here.

Table of Contents

Do children need health insurance in Germany?

Yes, every child in Germany must have a valid health insurance policy. Depending on the parent’s health insurance, a child will be insured under private or public health insurance.

Which health insurance can your child get?

A child’s health insurance depends on the parent’s health insurance policies. Here are the different scenarios.

• Both parents have private health insurance. You must get a separate private health insurance policy for the child. Your child cannot be insured in statutory health insurance.
• Both parents have public health insurance. Your child is automatically insured in your public health insurance or family insurance for free. You can still get full or supplementary private health insurance for your child.
• One parent has private, and the other has public health insurance. You can take private or public health insurance for your child. However, you won’t get free family insurance if you meet all of the three conditions:
  • The parents are married or life partners under the Civil Partnership Act.
  • The privately insured parent earns more than the publicly insured parent.
  • The total monthly income of the privately insured parent exceeds the income threshold (73,800€ (as of 2025)).

Example

Consider a married couple. One parent has private insurance and earns 6,500 euros gross monthly or 78k euros annually. Other parent has state health insurance and earns 5,000 euros gross per month. 

In this scenario, the privately insured parent satisfies all the three conditions. 

• They are married.
• The privately insured parent is the main earner.
• The privately insured parent’s income surpasses the annual salary limit.

Hence, the child must get a separate health insurance policy.

You can decide whether to get private health insurance or public. But you must pay a monthly premium regardless of your health insurance, whether public or private. In this case, getting private health insurance is best for the following reasons.

• Private health insurance offers better coverage than public.
• Private health insurance costs the same or less than the public health insurance.

NOTE: If both parents have private health insurance, the child must also get a private insurance. You cannot insure your child with statutory health insurer.

Public or Private health insurance for children in Germany?

If you are looking for the best medical coverage and faster doctor’s appointments, private health insurance is the right choice. Read our guide on the pros and cons of private and public health insurance to learn more.

One major advantage of public health insurance is you can insure your child free of charge (if eligible). However, in private health insurance, you must pay a monthly premium.

We recommend consulting an insurance broker for personalized advice before making a decision.

Use our private health insurance services checklist to ensure you get a plan with good coverage. We recommend using it during your call with the insurance broker. Moreover, ask the broker to sign the checklist to ensure you get the best advice.

How do you apply for children’s health insurance in Germany?

Public health insurance

Your public insurer will already know about your pregnancy. So, you only need to inform your public insurer about the child’s birth.

The public insurance company will need documents like a child’s birth certificate to issue the health insurance card. Your child is automatically insured in your public health insurance since birth.

So, you don’t have to pay anything for your child’s check-ups and medication at the hospital. 

Suppose you recently moved to Germany with your family. In this case, you must register yourself and your family with a public health insurance company of your choice.

We find TK the best public health insurance provider for expats. It offers its website, mobile app, and customer support in English.

You can register with TK online for free in 2 minutes using our “TK registration service.“

Private health insurance

As with public insurance, you only have to inform your insurer about the child’s birth. And the private insurer will enroll your child.

Like with adults, you will get an invoice for medical services used by your child. You have to pay the invoice yourself. The private health insurance company will reimburse it later.

If your family recently moved to Germany, it’s best to insure them with public health insurance. You can always switch to private health insurance later.

We recommend getting private health insurance via an insurance broker. They are experts and can help you find the best plan for your needs. You can book a call with an expert we recommend here.

Insurance brokers and advisors are liable for their advice. This means that if the insurance plan they recommended doesn’t fulfill your wishes, they are liable to pay the damages.

Insurance brokers offer free advice. The insurance company pays them upon the successful conclusion of the contract.

An insurance broker can also help you file a claim with the provider. The broker we recommend has been offering services to expats for more than a decade.

Cost of Children’s Health Insurance in Germany

If eligible, your child can be insured free of charge under public insurance. Otherwise, health insurance for children (public or private) in Germany can cost between 100 € and 250 € per month.

Can you change health insurance for children over time?

You can change your children’s health insurance based on your current situation. For example, a change in income or divorce can trigger a change in your child’s health insurance. 

You may either become eligible for free family insurance or may have to take out a separate health insurance policy for your child.

For example, the privately insured parent loses their job. In this case, you can insure the child under free family health insurance.

On the other hand, you must get separate health insurance for the child if one of the parents gets private insurance and is the main earner.

Are there special private health insurance plans for children in Germany?

Yes, private health insurance companies offer cheap insurance plans for children and youth. Moreover, children without income don’t have to get a separate long-term care insurance policy.

You can insure your child with your statutory long-term care insurance for free.

The cheapest private health insurance policy for children starts at 100 € per month.

Why private health insurance for children is cheap?

• Children don’t visit specialists often.
• Children undergo preventive check-ups (U1, U2, etc.). But other than that, they hardly incur any costs. 
• Children don’t require regular medication.
• Private health insurers do not charge retirement provisions until the age of 21. Retirement provisions keep private insurance costs stable in old age.

We recommend getting private health insurance via an insurance broker. They are experts and can help you find the best plan for your needs. You can book a call with an expert we recommend here.

Insurance brokers and advisors are liable for their advice. This means that if the insurance plan they recommended doesn’t fulfill your wishes, they are liable to pay the damages.

Insurance brokers offer free advice. The insurance company pays them upon the successful conclusion of the contract.

An insurance broker can also help you file a claim with the provider. The broker we recommend has been offering services to expats for more than a decade.

Do private insurance companies require children’s health checks?

Both or one of the parents has private health insurance

As with adults, private health insurers calculate the insurance premium based on the child’s health, age, and opted services.

Newborn child

Insuring newborns with private health insurance is easy. There is no health check nor any waiting period. 

Even if a child has a serious illness or disability, there are neither risk surcharges nor exclusions from benefits. However, you must meet the following requirements to enjoy these benefits:

• When the child is born, one parent must have had private health insurance for at least three months.
• The private health insurance company of the child and the parent are the same.
• The child is insured with the private insurer within two months of the birth. 

The child is insured retroactively from the day of birth.

Older child

Suppose you have moved to Germany and want to insure your child with private health insurance. In this case, a private insurer will do the usual health check of the child.

Both parents have public health insurance

If both parents have statutory health insurance, the child is automatically included in the family insurance for free.

Parents can still insure their child with a private insurer. In this case, the private insurer will carry out the usual health check.

You can also take supplementary private health insurance on top of public insurance.

Can a child’s private health insurance plan differ from the parent’s?

Yes, you can choose the private health insurance provider and tariff for your child. 

If you decide on another private health insurer, the insurer may ask for a health check. The same applies if you pick a tariff with better services than yours.

Is there a subsidy on children’s private health insurance in Germany?

Depending on your profession, you get a subsidy on your child’s private health insurance.

Employees

Employers in Germany pay half of their employees’ private health insurance premiums. However, the employer’s subsidy is capped.

The employer will cover a maximum of what they have to pay for a publicly insured employee, which is 471€ (8.55% of 5512.5€).

The good thing is if you have a cheap private health insurance policy. You won’t be using 100% of the employer’s subsidy.

In this case, you can use the remaining employer’s subsidy to cover your child’s private health insurance premiums.

Civil servants

The German government covers 50 to 70% of the medical costs of civil servants and their children. Thus, they need supplementary private health insurance to cover the gap.

This makes private health insurance very cheap for civil servants and their children.

Freelancers and Self-employed

Freelancers and self-employed must cover the complete private insurance cost of their children. They don’t get any subsidy.

Can children change their health insurance?

Yes, children can change from public to private or private to public health insurance when they reach a certain age.

Children insured with public health insurance

• Once the child reaches the age of 18, they can switch from public to private health insurance.
• Children can stay insured under free family insurance until they are 18. The age to be insured under free family insurance is extended to 23 if the children don’t have employment.
• Parents can decide to insure their children with private health insurance before they turn 18.

Children insured with private health insurance

• At the start of children’s higher education (university), they can switch from private to public health insurance. 
• Students cannot change their health insurance during their studies.
• Students can change their health insurance again
  • when they get employed for the first time after their studies or
  • they turn 30 during their studies.

When do you get child sickness benefits?

Whether you’ll get child sickness benefits depends on your child’s health insurance. Usually, the employer doesn’t pay for the leaves you take to care for your sick child.

However, your health insurer pays you the child sickness benefits instead.

• You’ll get child sickness benefits if your child has public health insurance.
• If your child is privately insured, you won’t get child sickness benefits. It doesn’t matter if you have public health insurance or not.

References

• https://www.finanztip.de/pkv/pkv-kinder/
• https://www.pkv.de/wissen/private-krankenversicherung/leistungen-und-erstattung/privatversichert-als-familie/
• https://www.allianz.de/gesundheit/private-krankenversicherung/kinder-familie/