Mid-October the Schätzerkreis, the panel of health-finance experts, meets to work out how much Germany’s statutory health insurers will need in 2027. That sets the average supplementary contribution, which the Federal Health Ministry must publish by 1 November. This year your insurer may not warn you before raising it. Here is what to know now, as questions and answers.
How high could the extra contribution go?
There is no 2027 figure yet. For orientation: the official 2026 average is 2.9 per cent, but insurers have recently charged about 3.13 per cent on average, partly to rebuild reserves. According to krankenkasseninfo.de, the ministry saw a gap of around €19 billion without countermeasures and a required rate of roughly 3.8 per cent; the FinanzKommission Gesundheit had put it at 3.65 per cent in spring. How much of that the coalition’s savings package absorbs will only be clear after the meeting. Your own insurer sets its own rate, usually in November or December, and it can differ markedly from the average.
The supplementary contribution is split between employee and employer. On a gross salary of €3,000, a 0.5-point gap between two insurers is €15 a month in total, of which you pay €7.50, about €90 a year. Higher earners pay more. The contribution ceiling is due to rise to €6,375 a month in 2027, up from €5,812.50, under a cabinet decision of 7 October; the Bundesrat still has to approve.
What is the deadline to switch?
If your insurer raises the rate, you have a special right to leave, even within the usual 12-month commitment. The Verbraucherzentrale says you can use it until the end of the month in which the higher rate first applies. For a rise on 1 January 2027, that is 31 January 2027. Membership then ends on 31 March and you are covered by the new insurer from 1 April; until then you pay the higher rate.
You do not need to cancel yourself. Sign up with the new insurer, name the rate rise as the reason, and the two exchange the paperwork electronically.
Why not to wait for a letter
Since late July 2026 insurers no longer have to tell members about an increase; the duty was dropped by the health savings law (our earlier report). krankenkasseninfo.de reports that it is meant to return from 2027, by post or digitally, via an amendment to the emergency-care reform. That is not yet decided. Our assessment: until then there is a real risk of a deadline passing unnoticed. To be safe, check your insurer’s website or the GKV-Spitzenverband list in December, and your January payslip.
Compare more than the percentage. Bonus schemes, extra benefits, optional tariffs and service differ, and not every insurer is open in every state. A sickness-pay tariff binds you for three years. Miss the window and you generally wait 12 months plus two months’ notice.
Our forecast, with caution: a fall in the 2027 average looks unlikely; a rise at many insurers, especially those with thin reserves, is more probable. How much will only be known in November.
Sources: Bundesregierung, Verbraucherzentrale, krankenkasseninfo.de
