← Back to context

Comment by tirant

4 hours ago

That’s absolutely not an exception.

I’m in Germany, and for a family of four, the public healthcare system, covering my wife and my two kids costs us around 2,200€ per month. The company pays half.

A switch to a private insurance would lower the costs around half.

I was under the impression that German healthcare was essentially free (government funded) at the point of delivery, with additional top-insurance carried by most people similar to how it is in here in France.

Here I am self-employed and pay about 100 euros a month in top-up insurance (mutuelle) for myself and a couple of kids. Of course, the healthcare costs more, that’s why my taxes are high; but the insurance cost is about €1200 a year, not €2200 a month.

You must be mistaken…

The maximum personal contribution to public health insurance (GKV) is capped at around 400/m for healthcare (and an additional 200 towards long-term/elderly care). Spouse and children are free if they are unemployed.

https://www.tk.de/resource/blob/2189790/9321e565c304a9cc33bb...

If you are paying more than that then you are already paying for private health insurance (PKV) or private supplementation on top of GKV for some premium coverage.