Health Insurance for PhD Students in Germany

Health insurance for a PhD student depends on how the doctorate is funded. With a post at the university, you are compulsorily insured as an employee. With a scholarship, you insure yourself voluntarily, either through statutory or private insurance. The student compulsory insurance (studentische Krankenversicherung, KVdS) no longer applies after a completed degree. The Federal Social Court ruled on 7 June 2018 that doctoral students are not covered by it after a university degree. Which rule applies to you depends on your funding model.

The essentials in brief

• After a completed degree, you no longer belong to the student compulsory insurance (Federal Social Court, 7 June 2018).
• With a post that is not a mini-job, you are compulsorily insured as an employee. Your employer pays half of the contribution.
• With a scholarship and no employment, you are not compulsorily insured. You choose voluntary statutory insurance or private insurance.
• Family insurance through your parents generally ends at 25. Through a spouse, it has no age limit, as long as your total income in 2026 is at most €565 per month.

How are you insured as a PhD student, depending on your funding?

Your funding model determines whether you are compulsorily insured, have to arrange your own insurance, or can be family insured. The table shows the common cases. For background on the routes to a doctorate, see the guide on PhDs in Germany (in German).

Are you a student under the student compulsory insurance?

Usually not. The student compulsory insurance under § 5 SGB V (in German) applies to those enrolled at state or state-recognised universities. The Federal Social Court ruled on 7 June 2018 (case numbers B 12 KR 15/16 R and B 12 KR 1/17 R) that doctoral students are not subject to student insurance after a university degree. The reason is that the doctorate serves primarily to prove scientific qualification.

The situation is different if you start your doctorate before completing your first degree. In that case, the KVdS remains possible for as long as the earlier course of study continues. The age limit then applies as for all students: membership ends at the end of the semester in which you turn 30. You remain insured longer only if the type of training or family or personal reasons justify the overrun. The details are in the article on health insurance as a student over 30 (in German).

The former limit of 14 subject semesters no longer exists, according to the Verbraucherzentrale (in German). It has not applied since 2020. For PhD students after a degree, age and subject semesters play no role anyway, because the KVdS does not apply to them.

Whether and how you enrol as a doctoral student is governed by the university. On enrolment, the university usually requires proof of insurance from a statutory fund. The article on health insurance and enrolment (in German) explains what applies. Ask your university which proof it expects from doctoral students.

How are you insured with a university post?

With a post as a research assistant, you are compulsorily insured as an employee, as long as the post is not a mini-job. Your employer pays half of the contribution. For about half of all PhD students, a post is the main source of funding. Compulsory insurance as an employee takes priority over student insurance, and if you are compulsorily insured, you cannot be family insured.

What applies to a half post at the university?

What matters is whether your pay is above the mini-job limit. In 2026, it is €603 per month. If your pay is above that, you are compulsorily insured as an employee, including with a half post. If you stay below the limit with a mini-job, it does not create its own compulsory insurance. Family insurance, voluntary statutory insurance or private insurance then come into question.

How are you insured with a PhD scholarship?

A PhD scholarship is generally tax-free and does not create social insurance obligations. Without employment, you are therefore not compulsorily insured, and you insure yourself voluntarily with a statutory fund or privately. Ask the scholarship provider whether it pays a contribution towards insurance costs. A cost allowance for the scholarship may itself be subject to contributions. General information on funding is in the article on scholarships in your studies (in German).

What does voluntary statutory insurance cost?

The fund calculates the contribution on your total income, but at least on €1,318.33 per month (minimum assessment base in 2026). For voluntary members without entitlement to sick pay, the reduced rate of 14.0% applies, plus your fund’s supplementary contribution. Nursing care insurance costs 3.6%, or 4.2% for childless people aged 23 or older. Voluntary members pay the nursing care contribution themselves.

Both rows are worked examples for childless people aged 23 or older, with a 14.0% rate plus a 2.9% supplementary contribution, the 2026 average. Your fund’s supplementary contribution may differ. As long as your income stays below €1,318.33, the contribution does not change.

PhD scholarships count as contribution-bearing income for voluntary members. If you do not provide proof of income, the fund initially calculates with the contribution assessment ceiling, and therefore with the maximum contribution. The fund sets the contribution again once you submit proof. So submit the scholarship notice early.

What happens directly after the KVdS?

Follow-on insurance is the automatic continuation of your insurance as voluntary membership, once compulsory insurance or family insurance ends (§ 188 para. 4 SGB V (in German)). Anyone coming from the KVdS stays with their fund, unless they declare their withdrawal within two weeks of the fund’s notice. Withdrawal takes effect only if you prove that you have other cover for illness.

What applies to an external PhD or self-funding?

With an external or part-time PhD, for example an industry PhD, your employment remains the deciding factor. As long as you are employed, you are compulsorily insured through it. Anyone who is self-employed as their main occupation cannot be family insured and does not fall under the KVdS.

If you fund your doctorate from your own means without employment after your first degree, you are not compulsorily insured. What remains open to you are family insurance, voluntary statutory insurance or private insurance.

Can you stay family insured as a PhD student?

Family insurance through your parents is limited by age. It applies up to 18 without further conditions, up to 23 without employment, and up to 25 during school or vocational training or studies. Anyone who has already completed a doctorate has usually passed these limits. The age limits are explained in the article on family insurance during studies (in German).

There is no age limit through a spouse or civil partner. The condition is that the partner is a member of a statutory fund. Your total income in 2026 must not exceed €565 per month, or €603 with a mini-job. A compulsory insurance through a post, your own voluntary insurance, an exemption from compulsory insurance, and self-employment as your main occupation all rule out family insurance.

Ask whether your scholarship counts toward the income limit. Get that confirmed by your partner’s fund in advance, and do not rely on general statements.

Do you have to take out private insurance as a PhD student?

No. With a post, you are compulsorily insured in statutory insurance. Employees can usually take out private insurance only if their pay is above the insurance obligation threshold, which in 2026 is €6,450 per month. With a scholarship, you choose freely between voluntary statutory insurance and private insurance.

Under private insurance, the contribution depends on entry age and health status. The application includes health questions that you must answer truthfully. Student tariffs are aimed at young first-time insured people and may no longer be available to you later. Ask about the entry conditions before you plan anything. Contributions can be adjusted over the years.

An exemption from compulsory insurance under § 8 SGB V is intended only for the case where enrolment itself creates compulsory insurance, that is, for a PhD before completing the first degree. You must apply within three months of the start of compulsory insurance. The exemption is irrevocable and takes effect only if you prove other entitlement to cover for illness. Anyone exempted cannot be family insured. The process is explained in the article on exemption from compulsory insurance (in German).

Consider the way back as well. Returning to statutory insurance before age 55 is generally possible through compulsory insurance as an employee below the annual earnings threshold. A mini-job is not enough. From age 55, returning is generally excluded.

What changes after the doctorate?

When you start work, you become a compulsory member as an employee, as soon as your pay is above the mini-job limit and below the insurance obligation threshold. If you were privately insured, you can terminate the contract retroactively to the start of the obligation within three months (§ 205 para. 2 VVG). The termination becomes ineffective if you do not prove that the obligation has started within two months of a written request from the insurer. A deferred membership in private insurance keeps the entry open. The small one protects your health status, the large one also protects your entry age.

If the post or the scholarship ends without a follow-on arrangement, you have several routes. Unemployment benefit I makes you compulsorily insured if you have paid contributions to unemployment insurance for at least twelve months within the last 30 months. A compulsory insurance post can count towards this. Ask the Federal Employment Agency what applies in your case. Otherwise, family insurance through your partner or voluntary membership remain.

Limits and deadlines at a glance

Frequently asked questions

Am I a student under the KVdS as a PhD student?

Not after a completed degree. In 2018, the Federal Social Court ruled that doctoral students are not covered by student insurance then. If you start your doctorate before completing your first degree, the KVdS remains possible.

How am I insured with a scholarship?

A scholarship creates no compulsory insurance. You insure yourself voluntarily with a statutory fund or privately. In statutory insurance, the fund calculates with at least €1,318.33 per month, and scholarships count as contribution-bearing income.

Can I stay family insured as a PhD student?

Through your parents, usually up to 25. Through your spouse, without an age limit, as long as your total income in 2026 is at most €565 per month, or €603 with a mini-job.

Do I have to take out private insurance as a PhD student?

No. With a post, you are compulsorily insured in statutory insurance. With a scholarship, you choose between voluntary statutory insurance and private insurance. Check the way back into statutory insurance before you decide on private insurance.

What to do now

1. Clarify how your doctorate is funded: post, scholarship, external doctorate or your own means.
2. Check whether your first degree is complete, because that decides whether the KVdS applies.
3. With a scholarship, compare voluntary statutory insurance with private insurance, and submit the scholarship notice to the fund.
4. If a spouse is statutorily insured, check family insurance and the income limit of €565.

If you want to check your model against your own figures, you will find the way to advice on the Academycon homepage (in German). The guide on health insurance for students (in German) gives an overview of the whole topic.

Related guides

• Health insurance for students in Germany
• Health insurance for students in the EU: EHIC and more
• Health insurance for students: glossary from A to Z
• Public or Private Health Insurance for International Students
• German original (in German)

Information, not individual advice. The German version is authoritative. Last reviewed: 21 October 2026.