Health insurance cover for students

The German statutory health insurance system includes a compulsory health insurance requirement for students up to the end of the semester in which they reach the age of 30. The age limit may be extended if you are able to provide reasonable grounds, such as undertaking a period of recognized voluntary service or supporting family members with care needs.

When you reach the age of 30 and there are no reasonable grounds for extension, you will no longer be able to be insured as a student with a statutory HI provider and your insurance cover will end at the start of the next semester. If you wish to remain in the statutory HI system, you can apply to become a voluntary contributor (freiwillig Versicherte/r).

If you are insured with a private health insurance company, you must make sure that you have been be exempted from compulsory student health insurance cover for the duration of your studies (see below: 'Exemption from compulsory insurance'). If you switch from a statutory to a private health insurance provider, your previous statutory HI provider is responsible for confirming that you are exempt from compulsory insurance.

Once you have been exempted, your previous statutory HI provider must send an electronic record of your insurance status (for university enrolment purposes) to Saarland University.

Note: The electronic record is referred to in German as 'Datensatz für die Einschreibung an der Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken'. We currently recommend that you include the German text when contacting your HI provider.

Please note that there are cases in which it is not possible to be exempted from the compulsory insurance requirement. This is the case, for example, if you are exempt from making social security payments or if you are not subject to compulsory insurance. In such cases, the German statutory health insurance provider must issue the relevant electronic record of your insurance status (for university enrolment purposes). Proof of health insurance cover from a private insurance provider (e.g. insurance policy) is not sufficient for enrolment purposes.

If you are a student and one of your parents or your spouse or civil partner (as defined in the German Civil Partnerships Act) is insured with a statutory health insurance provider, you will be automatically covered under the family insurance rules.

Non-contributory family insurance cover is provided to young persons up to the age of 25 who are still at school or who are training for a vocational or professional qualification (including those studying at a higher education institution), provided that all other requirements are met. Your HI provider will specify which additional requirements need to be fulfilled. Once you have completed your university studies or if you de-register from university, you can remain insured under the family insurance scheme until the end of the semester in which you graduated or de-registered, or until you reach the age of 25, whichever is the sooner.

Family insurance cover will be extended beyond this date if your school studies, university studies or vocational or professional training programme is interrupted or delayed by voluntary military service, voluntary service under the Federal Voluntary Service Act (Bundesfreiwilligendienstgesetz) or the Act to Promote Youth Voluntary Services (Jugendfreiwilligendienstegesetz), or by a comparable recognized voluntary service or because you have worked as an aid worker. In such cases, your health insurance cover will be extended beyond the age of 25 for a period corresponding to the duration of your service, but for no longer than 12 months.

Students up to the age of 25 are eligible for non-contributory family insurance cover, provided that a parent is insured with a statutory health insurance provider.

If you have statutory health insurance cover in a Member State of the European Union (other than Germany), ask your health insurance provider in your home country to issue you with a European health insurance card (EHIC).

To enrol at a university, you will still need to ask a German statutory health insurance provider to issue an electronic record of your insurance status. Please contact one of the German statutory health insurance providers for assistance. You will need to send the following documents to the German statutory HI provider: a copy of your personal ID or passport and proof of current health insurance cover. Please ask the German statutory health insurance provider to send an electronic record of your insurance status (for university enrolment purposes) to Saarland University.

Note: The electronic record you need is referred to in German as 'Datensatz für die Einschreibung an der Universität des Saarlandes'. We currently recommend that you include the German text when contacting your HI provider.

The EHIC covers the costs of any acute medical treatment that a student may need. The German health insurance provider acts as the auxiliary health insurance provider and will invoice your home health insurer directly for the costs incurred through use of the EHIC. If you receive non-acute medical care, the physician treating you may issue an invoice to be paid privately.

Important: If you are going to receive planned treatment (non-emergency treatment) and you are an international student with an EHIC or you are covered by a bilateral social insurance treaty, you should first contact the German statutory HI provider that issued the electronic record on your behalf. This HI provider will then issue a proof-of-entitlement document (Nationaler Anspruchsnachweis), which you will need to present to the medical practitioner treating you.

Germany has signed bilateral social security agreements with the following European (non-EU) countries: Bosnia Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Tunisia and Turkey. Students who are covered by statutory health insurance in one of these countries do not necessarily need to take out additional health insurance in Germany.  However, to be covered under the bilateral agreement you will need to provide the correct certification from your home country (e.g. AT/11 if you are from Turkey).

To enrol at a university, you will still need to ask a German statutory insurance provider to issue an electronic record of your insurance status. Please contact one of the German statutory health insurance providers for assistance. You will need to send the following documents to the German statutory HI provider: a copy of your personal ID or passport, a copy of your letter of admission to Saarland University and proof of current health insurance cover. Please ask the German statutory health insurance provider to send an electronic record of your insurance status (for university enrolment purposes) to Saarland University.

Note: The electronic record you need is referred to in German as 'Datensatz für die Einschreibung an der Universität des Saarlandes'. We currently recommend that you include the German text when contacting your HI provider.

Important: If you are going to receive planned treatment (non-emergency treatment), international students with an EHIC or who are covered by a bilateral social insurance treaty should first contact the German statutory HI provider that issued the electronic record on their behalf. This HI provider will then issue a proof-of-entitlement document (Nationaler Anspruchsnachweis), which you will need to present to the medical practitioner treating you.

If you are no longer covered by compulsory statutory health insurance (e.g. because you have reached the specified age limit), you have the option of remaining in the statutory health insurance scheme by making voluntary contributions. To be able to make voluntary contributions, you must have had continuous compulsory health insurance cover for at least 24 months in the last five years or for at least 12 months immediately prior to leaving the compulsory health insurance scheme. If you intend to remain in the statutory health insurance system as a voluntary contributor, you must notify your health insurance provider in writing within three months of leaving the compulsory health insurance scheme. If you continue to make voluntary health insurance contributions, you will also continue to make compulsory contributions to Germany’s statutory long-term care insurance scheme.

If your compulsory insurance cover ends (typically because you have reached the designated age limit), you will remain in the statutory health insurance scheme but as a voluntary contributor. If you do not want to continue to be insured under the statutory health insurance scheme, you may cancel your insurance cover within two weeks of receiving notification from your health insurance provider regarding the cancellation option. Termination of insurance cover will only become effective if you can demonstrate that you have some other means of covering the costs should you become ill, for example through a private health insurance policy.

If you become subject to compulsory health insurance as a result of enrolling at a university, you can apply for exemption. You must apply for exemption at one of the German statutory HI providers within three months of you becoming subject to the compulsory health insurance requirement (i.e. within three months after enrolment). Please note that you will not be able to revoke your exemption and it will continue to apply for the entire time that you are enrolled as a student. Exemption from compulsory insurance cover will only become effective if you can demonstrate that you have some other means of covering the costs in the event of illness, for example through a private health insurance policy.

If you would like to apply for exemption from compulsory insurance because you already have private health insurance cover, please contact a German statutory health insurance provider. You will need to send the following documents to the German statutory HI provider: a copy of your personal ID or passport, a copy of your letter of admission to Saarland University and proof of private health insurance cover. The statutory health insurance provider will also notify you about the possible disadvantages of exemption.

Some student groups are not subject to the statutory health insurance requirement, but are still required to present proof of health insurance cover. These groups include:

• Doctoral students
• Students who are over the age of 30
• Students who are taking a German language course or who are on the international foundation programme VSI.