Health insurance coverage for international students
In Germany, health insurance is mandatory for all students in undergraduate or graduate programmes. Enrolment is not possible without notification of your insurance status. Travel health insurance coverage is not sufficient!
Doctoral students are exempt from this insurance requirement for students!
It is therefore important to be properly informed about health insurance in Germany at an early stage especially in order to avoid having to pay for eventual high extra expenses in future!
Basic information on insurance in Germany
There are two types of health insurance coverage in Germany: statutory health insurance (also known as public health insurance or GKV) and private health insurance (PKV).
Both insurance systems offer insurance cover, but the type and scope of the respective insurance cover and the conditions vary considerably.
Important note: Once you have selected private health insurance, it is not possible to switch back to statutory insurance during your studies! It is therefore strongly recommended to carefully consider your choice of insurance before starting your studies.
Why should I choose a statutory health insurance?We strongly recommend that all students choose the GKV!
The requirements for admission to the more affordable student conditions of the GKV are:
- You are under 30 years old and
- You did not finish the semester 14 yet.
Only if this option is not available to you do you need to consider private health insurance.
If you become ill or have an accident and seek treatment from a doctor or in hospital, your health insurance fund covers the cost of your treatment.
The most important health care benefits covered by statutory health insurance (GKV) include:
- Medical treatment and prescribed medications
- Hospital treatment and rehabilitation
- Support from a doctor and a midwife during pregnancy and childbirth
- Child and adult preventive health checks and screening
- Recommended vaccinations
- Dental check-ups and dental treatment
- Psychotherapy
There are various statutory health insurers in Germany from which you can choose freely. The contribution rate is the same for all statutory health insurers. Only any additional contributions may vary.
As a rule, you take out student health insurance before the start of the semester. In these cases, however, the contract term does not begin until the official start of the semester (summer semester 01.04./ winter semester 01.10.), so that you do not have to pay fee until then. Please check this with your insurance company.
Here are some statutory health insurance companies that you could contact: TK, Barmer, DAK, AOK
Only if you
- are older than 30 years old or
- have exceeded the 14th semester or
- do a doctorate at the University of Göttingen
you must choose private health insurance.
We strongly recommend all other students to choose the GKV!
Important note: Once you have selected private health insurance, it is not possible to switch back to statutory insurance during your studies! It is therefore strongly recommended to carefully consider your choice of insurance before starting your studies.
Private health insurance contributions are not calculated according to income, but according to the risk of becoming ill. Contributions vary depending on age and health status at the time of taking out private health insurance. Insurance contributions also depend on the health care benefits to be covered. The more comprehensive the insurance benefits, the higher the contributions.
Experience has shown that the basic contracts for students are not sufficient for everyday insurance cover!
Important note: Those with private health insurance cover must generally pay for seeing a doctor, and for hospital and medication costs upfront, and are fully or partially reimbursed later.
With this link you will find an overview of possible private health insurances.
Fintiba, Expatrio, and Coracle offer an inexpensive solution that combines travel insurance for arrival, a blocked account (Sperrkonto*) and private health insurance. Exemption from statutory health insurance
In order to enrol at the university with private health insurance, the University will need an exemption from compulsory insurance of the statutory health insurance. Therefore, please contact a statutory health insurance company of your choice (e.g. TK, Barmer). The health insurance company will then automatically report your status to the university.
A statutory health insurance provider can only issue an exemption if the private health insurance you have selected meets a minimum benefit level:
- Reimbursement for outpatient and inpatient medical treatment
- Deductibles to be borne by the patient must not exceed a total of 5,000€ per person and calendar year
- Coverage must not be restricted within Germany.
- Reimbursements must not be limited, neither in total nor per case
- Conditions must not exclude treatments for drug and other addictive diseases, including detoxification and weaning treatments
- Conditions must not exclude treatment of any of the following diseases, even if they were diagnosed prior to the beginning of the contract period: HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, hemophilia, malignant tumors/cancer including leukemia, chronic kidney diseases, including their consequences and associated follow-up care.
In addition, the conditions of insurance must not contain any of the following exclusions or limitations:
The following private health insurance packages meet these requirements. Please contact providers for further information:
In order to complete your enrolment process, we need confirmation of your insurance status from a German statutory health insurance.
Please contact a German statutory health insurance company and establish your insurance status in Germany. The health insurance company will aks you for the University Number, which is H 0002978. Then they automatically report your status to the University. If you are privately insured, please contact a statutory health insurance company so that they can send a report on your exemption to us. Without this electronic notification of health insurance enrolment is not possible!
Doctoral students are exempt from this electronic health insurance notification and are not required to provide proof of health insurance for enrolment.
Contact:
The International Office
Incoming Office
Von-Siebold-Straße 2
37075 Göttingen
Personal Office Hours:
Mon 10am-12pm and Wed 2-4pm
Hotline-International students and applicants
+49 551/39 27777
Calling Hours:
Mon 1-4pm and Tue-Fri 9am-12pm