Private health insurance Germany when unemployed: rules and deadlines

Private health insurance in Germany when unemployed: if you receive unemployment benefit (Arbeitslosengeld), you usually become compulsorily insured in public insurance – even if you were privately insured. You can stay private only with an exemption if you were not publicly insured in the five years before (§ 8 (1) no. 1a SGB V); the Federal Employment Agency then pays your private premiums up to €27.13 (health) and €5.58 (long-term care) a day in 2026. Without unemployment benefit, a private policy continues at the full premium (as of October 2026).

Private health insurance in Germany when unemployed: the overview

What happens depends on two questions: do you receive unemployment benefit, and how were you insured before? The Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit, BA) pays unemployment benefit and – in most cases – your health insurance contributions while you receive it.

Lose your job in Germany: what happens to your health insurance first

Your health insurance is tied to your job in two ways. As an employee below the income threshold you are publicly insured because of the job; above it, your employer pays half of your private premium (§ 257 SGB V). Both links end when the employment ends. From that day on, what comes next depends on unemployment benefit.

• Register early. Register as looking for work at least three months before your job ends, or within three days of learning about the end (§ 38 (1) SGB III). A late registration can lead to a one-week blocking period (§ 159 SGB III).
• Check the qualifying period. Unemployment benefit usually requires that you were insured in unemployment insurance for at least twelve months within the last 30 months (§§ 142, 143 SGB III). Newcomers who lose a job in their first year often don't qualify yet.
• Mind blocking periods. If you quit without an important reason, a blocking period (Sperrzeit) of usually twelve weeks applies (§ 159 SGB III). You are still compulsorily insured, but according to the Agency's leaflet it takes over contributions only from the second month (§ 232a (1) SGB V). Ask your fund or insurer how the first month is handled.

Unemployment benefit and private health insurance: the exemption

Receiving unemployment benefit makes you compulsorily insured in public insurance (§ 5 (1) no. 2 SGB V). Being exempt as a high earner does not protect you from this, because that exemption only applied to your job. To stay private you need an exemption under § 8 (1) no. 1a SGB V. It requires that:

• you were not publicly insured in the five years before the benefit starts – short periods can already be harmful, and your fund checks this;
• you have a private policy with benefits that correspond in type and scope to public insurance – usually full cover;
• you apply within three months of the start of compulsory insurance at a public health insurance fund (§ 8 (2) SGB V).

The Federal Employment Agency asks for the exemption notice within two weeks of the start of benefit; otherwise it registers you with a public fund (Agency leaflet SV 1, January 2026). You can apply before you register as unemployed, and you need a new notice for each new period of unemployment. The exemption cannot be revoked (§ 8 (2) SGB V).

Many newcomers were publicly insured during their first job in Germany and only switched to private later. If that was within the last five years, the exemption is closed – you return to public insurance while you receive the benefit. Whether public insurance periods in another country count for the five years is something your fund decides; ask in writing.

What the Federal Employment Agency pays towards private health insurance

If you are exempt or over 55 under the special rule, the Agency takes over your private premiums – for health insurance including sick pay insurance (Krankentagegeld) and for co-insured spouses and children – but only up to the contributions it would have paid in public insurance (§ 174 SGB III). It pays the insurer directly unless you ask otherwise.

These are the maximum caps. They apply if your benefit is assessed on a salary of at least about €69,750 a year – which is usually the case if you were privately insured as an employee, because your salary was above the income threshold (own calculation). If your benefit is calculated on a notional salary (§ 152 SGB III), for example because you had fewer than 150 days of pay in the last two years, the caps are lower.

For 2027 the Agency will publish new caps; the values depend on the 2027 calculation figures, which are still a draft (Federal Cabinet decision of 7 October 2026, Bundesrat approval pending). The German-language detail, including the notional-salary table and a 2027 scenario, is on our sister site: private health insurance and unemployment (in German).

Back to public insurance through unemployment: what to do with the private policy

If you can't or don't want to be exempted, unemployment benefit brings you into public insurance – under 55 one of the few ways back (see switching back to public health insurance). Your private policy then has to be dealt with:

• Cancel retroactively: you can cancel it within three months of the start of compulsory insurance, with effect from that date; the insurer may ask for proof within two months (§ 205 (2) VVG). After that, it only ends at the end of the month in which you prove the compulsory insurance.
• Keep a dormant policy: if you expect to go private again – for example with a new job above the threshold – a dormant policy (Anwartschaftsversicherung) can keep your health status, and with the large version your entry age, for a fraction of the premium. Ask your insurer for the price before you cancel.
• Think about the next job: a new job with a regular salary above the income threshold is exempt from public insurance from day one, so you can go private again. Check your salary against the threshold with the income threshold checker.

While you receive unemployment benefit in public insurance, your family members can usually be insured free of charge (family insurance, Familienversicherung), and 360 days of benefit count as twelve months of prior insurance for later voluntary public insurance (§ 9 (1) SGB V). When the benefit ends, your public membership continues as a voluntary one unless you leave within two weeks of the fund's notice and prove other cover (§ 188 (4) SGB V).

Already publicly insured: unemployment benefit and public insurance

If you were publicly insured in your job – compulsorily or voluntarily – unemployment benefit simply continues your public cover. The Agency pays the contributions; family members stay family-insured. If you fall ill, unemployment benefit usually continues for up to six weeks (§ 146 SGB III); after that, public insurance pays sick pay in the amount of the unemployment benefit (§ 47b SGB V). Nothing changes for your doctor visits.

Privately insured people should check their sick pay insurance instead: whether it continues, rests or has to be adjusted during unemployment depends on the tariff terms. Ask your insurer in writing.

Job seekers without unemployment benefit

Not everyone who loses a job in Germany receives unemployment benefit – for example if you have not yet been insured for twelve months. Then you have to organise your health insurance yourself:

If you came to Germany to look for work – for example with an Opportunity Card – you are usually covered by an incoming policy until you take up a job; see health insurance for the Opportunity Card. Freelancing while you look for a job changes your status again – read health insurance for freelancers and the self-employed before you register a business.

Basic income support (formerly Bürgergeld) and private health insurance

Since 1 July 2026 Bürgergeld is called basic income support (Grundsicherungsgeld); authorities may keep using the old name until the end of 2026 (Federal Law Gazette 2026 I No. 107). For health insurance the rules are:

• Last privately insured – stay private. Recipients who were last privately insured do not become compulsorily insured in public insurance (§ 5 (5a) SGB V).
• Subsidy from the jobcentre: up to half of the basic tariff – €508.59 for health and €104.63 for long-term care insurance a month in 2026 (§ 26 SGB II; Agency leaflet, July 2026). If you stay in your own tariff, the jobcentre pays the lower of this cap and your premium; the rest and any deductible are yours.
• Basic tariff: in case of need, the premium in the basic tariff (Basistarif) is halved (§ 152 (4) VAG). If your need ends within two years, you can return to your old tariff without new health questions; apply within three months (§ 204 (2) VVG).

Whether you are entitled to basic income support is decided by the jobcentre. Whether claiming it has consequences for your residence permit is a question for the immigration office.

Residence permit and job loss: what we can't answer

What we can say: your health insurance continues without a gap if you follow the deadlines below. Health insurance questions for Blue Card holders are covered in health insurance with an EU Blue Card.

Deadlines at a glance

Checklist: you have lost your job

• Register as looking for work and apply for unemployment benefit in time.
• Privately insured? Check whether you were publicly insured in the last five years – this decides whether an exemption is possible.
• Decide on the exemption within days and send the notice to the Agency within two weeks of the start of benefit.
• Tell your private insurer about the job loss and ask about sick pay insurance, a cheaper tariff and a dormant policy.
• Keep the fund's letters: the two-week exit window after the benefit ends is short.
• Ask the immigration office about any residence questions – not your insurer or broker.

Planning your next job above the threshold? Compare the long-term cost of both systems with the public vs private cost calculator, or get an honest first answer from the free 60-second decider – no health questions.

Frequently asked questions

This article provides general information on health insurance in Germany (as of 12 October 2026). It does not replace individual advice. Which solution suits you depends on your personal situation, e.g. age, health, income, family and length of stay. Despite careful review we cannot guarantee completeness and accuracy; laws and tariffs change. It is not immigration advice: whether your insurance is sufficient for a visa or residence permit is decided by the German mission abroad or your immigration office. Publisher: German-PKV.de. German-PKV.de is not an insurance broker and does not provide insurance, legal or tax advice; individual advice is provided exclusively by specialised cooperation partners licensed under § 34d GewO.