Private health insurance for freelancers

Yes. Freelancers and self-employed people can choose between public and private health insurance, whatever they earn by law. To sign up for private insurance with Feather, you need to earn more than €36,000 a year, or €51,000 if you're 51 or older. If you have lived in Germany for longer than 12 months, you might be eligible starting at earnings of €25,000 a year. Your health also plays a role in your eligibility.

To sign up with Feather, you need a gross income of more than €36,000 a year (under 51) or €51,000 (51 and older). If you have lived in Germany for longer than 12 months, you might be eligible starting at earnings of €25,000 a year. This is Feather's requirement, not a legal threshold. The €77,400 threshold (rising to €84,150 in 2027) only applies to employees.

Yes, and it's often your best option. Public insurers usually won't accept non-EU freelancers who haven't been insured in the EU before. Private health insurance covers you from day one, and your confirmation also works for your freelance visa application.

Yes. Once your cover is confirmed, the confirmation for your visa and residence permit is ready in your Feather account.

The documents you need to apply as a freelancer depend on how long you’ve been a resident in Germany. If you have lived in Germany for less than 12 months, then you will need to provide work contracts or letters of intent, as well as bank statements from the last 3 months. Optional supporting documents include invoices, paychecks, business plans, recent tax assessments or BWA statements.

Many of these documents are not required if you’ve been a resident in Germany for longer than 12 months.

A full overview can be found here.

As a freelancer, you pay the full contribution yourself, since there's no employer to pay half. Public insurance costs about 19% of your income, from €180 to €980 a month. Private insurance is priced on your age and health when you sign up, not on your income. So if you earn well, private is often cheaper.

Nothing changes. Your private premium doesn't depend on your income, so a great year doesn't make your insurance more expensive. Keep in mind that a quiet year doesn't make it cheaper either.

Yes, if you add income protection. It safeguards up to 100% of your income if illness keeps you from working for more than 42 days. That matters when you're self-employed, because there's no employer paying sick pay.

Yes, in large part. Health and care insurance premiums count as special expenses (Sonderausgaben) in your tax return.

If you became self-employed less than 2 months ago, you can cancel your public insurance right away. Your private insurance then starts on the first day of your self-employment, and your public insurer pays back your contributions for that time. Otherwise, there's usually a cancellation period of 2 months plus the current month. See our short guide.

You pay the invoice from your doctor or pharmacy upfront, usually within 14–30 days. Then you submit the invoice via app and get reimbursed in 2-4 weeks. Hospital stays are usually billed directly. For expensive medical aids, we help you find the right product and you don't need to pay upfront.

Usually not, if you had comprehensive health insurance for the 12 months before signing up. If you didn't, or you have certain ongoing health conditions, you'll need a medical and dental check-up. We'll set it up and reimburse up to €195 for the exams, per person.

No. Your contribution doesn't rise because you get older. Costs do change with general healthcare inflation, which has averaged 2.8% a year for private insurance, compared to 3.4% for public (2005–2025).

You can if you're under 55 and become an employee earning below the income threshold (€77,400 in 2026). Sometimes becoming unemployed allows it too. While you're self-employed, switching back to public is usually not possible, so private insurance is a long-term decision.

Usually you'd switch back to public insurance. If you've been privately insured for 5 years before becoming unemployed, we can check whether you can stay on your private plan.

Yes. You can add your spouse and/or children to your plan, for a monthly cost based on their age and health, if they meet the following conditions:

• Their monthly income is less than €603
• They have no significant pre-existing health conditions

You can cancel through your account. Submit your de-registration (Abmeldung) and proof that you're leaving permanently, such as proof of residence in your new country. Taking your insurance abroad may be possible and is checked case by case.