Healthcare in Germany
Health insurance is compulsory in Germany. How to get into the public system, when you can choose private insurance, and what happens to your health cover in Israel.
✓ Checked against the sources: October 2026⚠️ This isn't medical or insurance advice. It's general information checked against official sources.
First steps
- Register your address with the local registration office (Anmeldung) within two weeks of moving in. Your landlord gives you a move-in confirmation (Wohnungsgeberbestätigung) for this.
- Choose a public health insurance fund (Krankenkasse). You can pick, for example, any Ersatzkasse or the AOK in your area.
- Employees: your employer registers you with the fund you chose. Then you get an insurance card and choose a family doctor (Hausarzt).
Source: Bundesmeldegesetz § 17 · Bundesmeldegesetz § 19 · SGB V § 173
Public or private
Everyone who lives in Germany must be insured, either with a public fund or with private insurance. Employees are usually compulsorily insured in the public system. If you earn above a yearly income threshold (updated each 1 January), you can choose private insurance. The self-employed aren't insured automatically and have to choose themselves.
🔒 2 more sections in this guide
- 💳 Private health insurance
- 🇮🇱 Your Israeli health cover while abroad
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