Pension: Change from private to statutory health insurance - Here's how

Created: 03/28/2022, 15:04

By: Patricia Huber

For people over 55, switching from private to statutory health insurance is no longer so easy.

(Iconic image) © Thomas Trutschel/Imago Images

With private health insurance, premiums increase significantly over the course of life.

But changing to statutory health insurance is no longer so easy.

An overview.

Munich - For pensioners with private health insurance, a change to statutory health insurance can be interesting.

Because the contribution to private health insurance (PKV) increases regularly.

For example, anyone who joins private health insurance at the age of 35 must expect the amount to triple by the time they retire.

According to information from the

magazine calculated this rule of thumb

in 2019.

So if you only have a low pension and few reserves, it is better to stay with the statutory health insurance (GKV).

Health insurance: Later change only with hurdles

But what if you only notice this later and want to switch from private to statutory health insurance?

There are a few rules to be observed here, because the legislator wants to prevent high earners from taking advantage of private health insurance for a long time and later switching to statutory health insurance when they are older and often ill.

Anyone under the age of 55 can usually switch from private to statutory health insurance without any problems.

However, you have to make sure that the gross annual salary does not exceed the limit of 64,350 euros, explains the

center .

If you are close to this limit, you can use a few tricks.

• Temporary part-time agreement:

  Some employers offer so-called bridge part-time work.

  This allows employees to temporarily reduce their working hours and thus their salary so that it falls below the limit.

• Working time account:

  A working time account could also help.

  Hours worked can be credited to this for the future and thus the salary can be reduced.

  It works similarly with a so-called “sabbatical year”.

• Salary conversion:

  Finally, there would be the option of allowing part of the salary to flow into the company pension scheme.

  In this way, one could also reach the limit of compulsory insurance.

Health insurance: Join statutory health insurance through your family

But if you are over 55 years old, you have no chance of returning to the GKV even with these tricks.

But there are other ways and means that can also help the older privately insured.

If, for example, the spouse or registered life partner is legally insured, you can enter the GKV via family insurance.

But then the regular income must not exceed 470 euros.

However, anyone who was once in family insurance and then exceeds the limit can continue to voluntarily insure themselves with statutory health insurance.

How long the person concerned was in family insurance is irrelevant.

There is also an option for emigrants to return to statutory health insurance, as pension advisor Sascha Schilbach explains to

: “Returnees from other EU countries who had statutory health insurance there must also be included in statutory health insurance.

This also applies in principle if private health insurance existed in Germany prior to the stay abroad.”

Pension: This is how retirees can switch to statutory health insurance

There are also a few options for retirees to switch.

Because they too can switch to family insurance, provided the pension they receive does not exceed 470 euros.

You can even deduct the child-rearing periods, which are credited to the pension as additional earnings points.

In addition: “Under certain conditions, pensioners who have previously had private health insurance can also be admitted to the GKV via a new regulation,” Schilbach makes clear.

And that is if the pensioner had at least 90 percent membership in the GKV in the second half of his insurance life.

Here, however, even short interruptions can rule out a change.