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Contribution increases at
Health insurance companies:
Savings opportunities for 2025

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Health insurance contribution increases:
Savings opportunities for 2025

Health insurance premiums are expected to rise in 2025. Here you can find out why and how you might be able to save money.

A significant increase in contributions to statutory health insurance (GKV) is expected next year. A projected financing deficit of approximately €13.8 billion, forecast by the GKV's expert panel, leads to the recommendation to increase the supplementary contribution specific to each health insurance fund.

Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), the largest statutory health insurance provider with 11.8 million members, has already announced an increase in its contribution rate from 1.2 percent to 2.45 percent. Similar announcements are imminent from other major insurers such as Barmer and DAK-Gesundheit. These significant increases have been strongly criticized by the social welfare association VdK, which is simultaneously calling for sweeping reforms. "These are the largest increases in supplementary contributions since the introduction of free choice of health insurance provider in the 1990s," emphasized VdK President Verena Bentele. She warned that these increases would place a considerable burden on millions of people.

What is meant by the additional contribution of health insurance companies?

The general contribution rate for statutory health insurance in Germany is set at 14.6 percent of gross income, with employers and employees each paying half. To make financing their services more flexible, health insurance funds have been permitted since 2015 to levy a variable supplementary contribution, the amount of which is individually determined and also shared equally by employers and employees. This measure was intended to promote competition among health insurance funds.

Currently, the average supplementary contribution for health insurance in Germany is around 1.7 percent. According to forecasts, this average could rise to 2.5 percent. Some health insurance companies are even planning to levy supplementary contributions of over three percent starting in 2025.

Necessity of the additional contribution in statutory health insurance

Health insurance funds are being forced to raise their supplementary contributions to cover their growing deficit. This deficit stems, among other things, from rising medical treatment costs and the financial demands of the planned hospital reform. Jens Baas, CEO of Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), points out in a podcast that the financial situation of the health insurance funds has also been influenced by political decisions. He particularly criticizes the policies of former Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU), who, during his term from 2018 to 2021, implemented measures to artificially stabilize contribution rates. This included a law that forced health insurance funds to reduce their financial reserves. Baas describes this as a short-term solution that made contribution rates appear temporarily stable – a course of action he considers misleading. With the reduction of reserves, many health insurance funds now face the problem of having no financial buffers left, which will lead to an unchecked increase in contributions next year.

How will I find out about the new additional contributions?

Health insurance members are informed in writing about changes to the supplementary contribution. If a health insurance company plans to increase its contributions on January 1st of any given year, it is obligated to announce this change no later than December 31st of the previous year. This ensures that all members are informed of the new contributions in a timely manner and can plan accordingly.

Expected additional costs due to the increase in supplementary contributions

The anticipated increase in supplementary contributions averages around 0.8 percent. However, the actual amount of the contribution adjustment varies considerably depending on the health insurance fund. For example, the German Federal Miners' Insurance Fund (Knappschaft) plans to raise its supplementary contribution to 4.4 percent from 2025, an increase of 1.7 percentage points compared to the current rate of 2.7 percent. In contrast, some company health insurance funds, such as EY BKK, are keeping their supplementary contribution constant at 1.04 percent. AOK NordWest plans to increase its contribution from 1.89 to 2.79 percent. Large health insurance funds such as Barmer, DAK-Gesundheit, and AOK Rheinland/Hamburg have not yet provided specific information regarding adjustments to their supplementary contributions. Members of these funds should therefore pay attention to official announcements to estimate the exact additional costs.

No.	Health insurance	change	Additional contribution 2025	Additional contribution 2024	Additional contribution 2023
1	AOK Baden-Württemberg	1,00	2.60%	1,60%	1,60%
2	AOK Bavaria	1,11	2.69%	1,58%	1,58%
3	AOK Bremen/Bremerhaven	1,11	2.49%	1,38%	1,38%
4	AOK Hessen	0,89	2.49%	1,60%	1,60%
5	AOK Lower Saxony	1,20	2.70%	1,50%	1,50%
6	AOK NordWest	0,90	2.79%	1,89%	1,89%
7	AOKNordost	0,00	2,70%	1,90%
8	AOK PLUS	0,00	1,80%	1,50%
9	AOK Rhineland-Palatinate/Saarland	0,67	2.47%	1,80%	1,80%
10	AOK Rheinland/Hamburg	0,00	2,20%	1,80%
11	AOK Saxony-Anhalt	1,20	2.50%	1,30%	1,00%
12	AkzoNobel BayernBKK	0,00	1,65%	1,55%
13	AudiBKK	1,40	2.40%	1,00%	1,25%
14	BAHN-BKK	0,00	3.40%	3,40%	1,70%
15	BARMER	0,00	2,19%	1,50%
16	BIGdirecthealth	1,74	3.39%	1,65%	1,45%
17	BKK Mahle	0,00	2,20%	1,40%
18	BKK ProVita	1,40	2.89%	1,49%	1,49%
19	BKK24	0,00	3.25%	3,25%	1,79%
20	BMWBKK	1,60	2.90%	1,30%	0,30%
21	Bertelsmann BKK	1,10	2.50%	1,40%	1,40%
22	Bosch BKK	1,18	2.68%	1,50%	1,50%
23	Continentale BKK	1,13	3.33%	2,20%	1,40%
24	DAK-Health	0,00	1,70%	1,70%
25	DIEBERGISCHE Health Insurance	0,00	1,99%	1,60%
26	DebekaBKK	0,00	1,69%	1,69%
27	Diakonie BKK	0,71	3.40%	2,69%	1,60%
28	The technicians	1,25	2.45%	1,20%	1,20%
29	DürkoppAdler BKK	2,33	3.88%	1,55%	1,29%
30	energy – BKK	1,39	2.98%	1,59%	1,59%
31	EUREGIOBKK	0,00	1,79%	0,84%
32	exclusive BKK	0,40	2.39%	1,99%	1,99%
33	Faber-Castell & Partner BKK	1,08	2.18%	1,10%	1,35%
34	firmus BKK	0,94	1.84%	0,90%	0,90%
35	Freudenberg BKK	0,00		1,50%	1,50%
36	Gildemeister Seidensticker BKK	0,00	3.40%	3,40%	0,90%
37	HEK – Hanseatic Health Insurance Fund	0,00		1,30%	1,30%
38	HERKULES BKK	0,00	2.39%	2,39%	1,09%
39	Home Health Insurance	0,00	2.50%	2,50%	1,30%
40	hkk health insurance	1,21	2.19%	0,98%	0,98%
41	IKK or The Innovation Fund	0,00	3.10%	3,10%	1,60%
42	IKK Brandenburg and Berlin	0,00		1,99%	1,77%
43	IKKSüdwest	1,60	3.25%	1,65%	1,65%
44	IKKclassic	1,21	3.40%	2,19%	1,60%
45	IKKgesund plus	1,00	3.39%	2,39%	1,10%
46	KKH – Commercial Health Insurance	0,50	3.78%	3,28%	1,50%
47	Miners' Association	1,70	4.40%	2,70%	1,60%
48	Krones BKK	0,00		0,90%	0,90%
49	Linde BKK	0,00		1,50%	1,50%
50	Melitta HMR BKK	1,90	3.50%	1,60%	1,40%
51	Mercedes-Benz BKK	0,00		1,70%	1,30%
52	mhplus health insurance	0,00	2.56%	2,56%	1,58%
53	Mobile health insurance	0,00		1,49%	1,49%
54	Novitas BKK	0,00		1,70%	1,54%
55	PFAFFBKK	0,00		1,80%	0,80%
56	Pfalz BKK	0,00	3.90%	3,90%	1,55%
57	pronovaBKK	0,80	3.20%	2,40%	1,70%
58	Public BKK	1,10	2.30%	1,20%	1,50%
59	R+V BKK	1,56	2.96%	1,40%	1,40%
60	SBH BKK	0,00		1,29%	0,98%
61	SBK	1,20	2.90%	1,70%	1,50%
62	SECURVITA Health Insurance	0,00		2,20%	1,60%
63	SKD BKK	0,99	2.48%	1,49%	1,15%
64	Salus BKK	1,40	2.99%	1,59%	1,59%
65	Scheufelen BKK	0,90	2.75%	1,85%	1,40%
66	Südzucker BKK	0,00		1,10%	1,10%
67	TUI BKK	1,00	2.50%	1,50%	1,50%
68	Technoform BKK	0,99	2.49%	1,50%	1,50%
69	VDNBKK	1,50	3.19%	1,69%	1,50%
70	VIACTIV Health Insurance	0,00	3.27%	3,27%	1,60%
71	vivida bkk	0,00		2,49%	1,40%
72	VerbundPlus BKK	0,00		1,55%	1,35%
73	BUSINESS & FINANCE BKK	1,00	3.99%	2,99%	1,69%
74	WMF BKK	0,85	2.45%	1,60%	1,60%
75	Werra-Meissner BKK	1,59	3.39%	1,80%	1,80%
76	ZF&Partner BKK	1,30	3.40%	2,10%	1,45%
77	mkk • meinekrankenkasse	1,00	3.50%	2,50%	1,80%

Options for changing health insurance providers in case of premium increases

Insured individuals generally have the option to switch health insurance providers if their current provider increases the supplementary contribution. Such an increase triggers a special right of termination, which is available to insured individuals until the end of the month in which the contribution increase takes effect. For example, if a health insurance provider increases contributions on January 1, 2025, members can terminate their membership until January 31, 2025.

In addition to the special right of termination, there is also the general option of changing health insurance providers, provided the member has been insured with their current provider for at least twelve months. In Germany, there are almost 100 statutory health insurance providers to choose from. Switching providers simply requires registration with the new provider, which then handles all the formalities, such as canceling the policy with the old provider and managing the transfer process.

Ways to save on health insurance contributions

Insured individuals have several options to reduce their health insurance premiums by opting out of certain benefits from their insurance package. Some health insurance companies offer so-called optional tariffs, where one receives financial advantages for foregoing certain benefits.

Deselect service packagesAt Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), for example, insured members can deselect up to five benefit packages, including those for pregnancy and artificial insemination, home nursing care, homeopathy, and professional dental cleaning. TK pays out €18 annually for each deselected benefit.
Money-back tariffsBarmer also offers various tariffs where members can get money back if they do not use certain services.
Bonus programsSome health insurance companies, such as AOK Rheinland, reward their members with a bonus or premium if they do not use any medical services, such as prescriptions or hospital stays, for a certain period of time. At AOK Rheinland, this can amount to up to €530 for three years without using any services.

These optional tariffs and bonus programs can be found at the respective health insurance companies under the keyword "optional tariff".