Apply for family insurance in the statutory health insurance scheme

• § Section 10 of the Fifth Book of the German Social Code (SGB V)
• § Section 7 of the Second Act on Health Insurance for Farmers (KVLG 1989)

• current certificate of income or current income tax assessment of your partner (copy) if he or she is not covered by statutory health insurance
• for children aged 23 and over: School or study certificate

In individual cases, further documents such as pension certificates or proof of capital assets may be required. Please contact your statutory health insurance fund for more information.

You can apply for family insurance if

• you have statutory health insurance
• your family members live in Germany

your spouse or life partner is insured in Germany:

• is not self-employed as their main occupation or has statutory health insurance, for example as an employee or pensioner;
• does not have private health insurance, for example as an employee, civil servant or retired civil servant;
• is not exempt from compulsory health insurance and
• earns no or only a low income. The exact income limit is set by the legislator each year.

Your children are

• under 18 years old or
• under 23 years old and not yet working or
• under 25 years of age and still attending school, studying or completing unpaid school-based vocational training

Children with a disability can remain permanently covered by family insurance if they are unable to support themselves as adults.

You can insure your grandchildren and stepchildren under family insurance within the age limits specified, provided they

• live in your household or
• you are mainly responsible for their livelihood.
• Foster children living permanently in the same household are also eligible for family insurance.

If your spouse or partner does not have statutory insurance but is privately insured, for example, you may only insure joint children free of charge if

• your partner's salary is below the statutory annual income limit or
• your partner earns less than you.

You do not have to pay anything for the application.

You can apply for family insurance by post or - in the case of many statutory health insurance companies - hand it in personally at the office or submit it online.

• Fill out the application form from your statutory health insurance fund and submit it to the health insurance fund together with the required documents. There are usually different forms, depending on whether you are applying for the first time or checking the requirements.
• The health insurance company will check whether you are entitled to family insurance and inform you of the result.
  

Processing normally takes around 1 to 4 working days.
In order to process and decide quickly, your health insurance fund must have the necessary information and any required documents in a complete and meaningful form.
The health insurance company decides on applications promptly, whereby the statutory processing period is adhered to in order to protect patients' rights.
Please note that the processing time stated is an average value for all health insurance companies. It may vary in individual cases.
The exact processing time also depends on the complexity of the individual case and may be longer. The same applies if documents or records are sent to you or your health insurance company by post.

There are no deadlines for you.

• Objection
• Action before the social court

- Forms: yes

- Online procedure possible: Many statutory health insurance companies offer an online procedure.

- Written form required: no

- Personal appearance necessary: no

• To apply for family insurance via the health insurance navigator of the GKV-Spitzenverband

• Information on the income limit for family insurance on the GKV-Spitzenverband website

The text was automatically translated based on the German content.

Federal Ministry of Health

25.10.2021