Private Health Insurance for Working Students in Germany

Private health insurance (private Krankenversicherung, PKV) remains in place for working students who were exempted from statutory insurance at the start of their studies. Everyone else is insured through the student compulsory insurance (studentische Pflichtversicherung, KVdS) under the statutory system. As long as you work no more than 20 hours per week during term time, and your studies take up most of your time, you are exempt from health, nursing care and unemployment insurance. Only pension insurance remains compulsory. If you regularly work more than 20 hours, this can change your health insurance. For students with a statutory insurance, an overview of compulsory insurance and options is in the guide on student health insurance (in German).

The essentials in brief

• With up to 20 hours per week during term time, you are exempt from health, nursing care and unemployment insurance as an employee. The amount you earn does not matter. Pension insurance remains compulsory.
• Your job can exceed 20 hours per week for up to 26 weeks a year if the extra work falls on evenings, nights or weekends, or is limited to the semester break and fixed in advance.
• Pension insurance: the total contribution is 18.6%, which you and your employer pay equally.
• Privately insured people stay privately insured. A job with more than 20 hours per week can lead back into statutory insurance.
• Ask your employer before you sign whether it contributes to private insurance, and ask in writing.

What does the 20-hour rule mean for working students?

The working student privilege applies if you work no more than 20 hours per week during term time and your studies take up most of your time. In that case, you are exempt from health, nursing care and unemployment insurance. The amount of your pay does not matter for this. Regularly working more than 20 hours generally means that you are treated as an employee.

There is some room for flexibility. For up to 26 weeks a year, you may exceed 20 hours if the extra work falls only on weekends, evenings or nights, or during the semester break, and if it is unforeseeable or fixed in advance. For work only during the semester break, the rules differ: you are not compulsorily insured in health, nursing care and unemployment insurance, and a short excess of the hours is generally harmless. If you hold several jobs, the fund adds the hours and earnings together for health and nursing care insurance.

Example: Leon works as a working student for 20 hours per week during term time at the statutory minimum wage of €13.90. That gives €13.90 × 20 × 52 ÷ 12, or about €1,205 gross per month. If he is statutorily insured, he stays in the student compulsory insurance, as long as he keeps to 20 hours and his studies take up most of his time. If he is privately insured, the job changes nothing about that either.

How are working students insured under statutory insurance?

If you are statutorily insured, you remain in the student compulsory insurance. In 2026, the contribution is between €118.16 and €123.29 per month plus your fund’s supplementary contribution. The contribution basis of €855 applies regardless of your pay. At the average supplementary contribution of 2.9% (€855 × 2.9% = €24.80), you pay about €143 to €148 per month.

Family insurance remains possible for a working student only as long as your total income in 2026 is at most €565 per month. As an employee, you can deduct the flat employee allowance of €102.50, so earnings of up to €667.50 are possible. A salary of €1,200 per month is clearly above that. Then family insurance ends, and you are compulsorily insured in the student insurance.

How does private insurance work for working students?

If you were exempted from compulsory insurance at the start of your studies, you stay privately insured, including as a working student. The exemption is irrevocable and applies for the whole course of study, as a rule. The application had to be made within three months of the start of compulsory insurance. During the exemption, there is no contribution-free family insurance. What a private health insurance is for students is explained in the article on what private health insurance is (in German).

The contribution in private insurance depends on entry age, tariff and health status, not on your earnings. The application includes health questions that you must answer truthfully. Contributions may be adjusted over time, and that applies to working students too.

What happens if you work more than 20 hours as a privately insured person?

If you regularly exceed the 20 hours, you are generally treated as an employee. A job subject to social insurance below the insurance obligation threshold can then lead back into statutory insurance. The threshold is €6,450 per month in 2026, or €77,400 per year. A mini-job is not enough for this. Clarify the case with your private insurer and your fund before you take on the job, because the exemption is irrevocable. If you become compulsorily insured in statutory insurance, you can terminate the private contract retroactively to the start of the obligation, within three months. The insurer may ask for proof, which you must provide within two months of the request.

Does your employer contribute to private insurance?

Whether a contribution towards private insurance is possible depends on the individual case. Ask the HR department before you sign your employment contract, and get the answer in writing. Your insurer can explain how a contribution would affect the premium statement.

Are you liable for pension insurance as a working student?

Yes. Pension insurance applies even when health, nursing care and unemployment insurance do not. The total contribution is 18.6%, and you pay half of it.

Example: Mia earns €2,100 gross per month as a working student. The total contribution is €2,100 × 18.6%, which is €390.60. Mia pays half, €195.30, and the employer covers the rest.

When does the working student privilege end?

The privilege ends with the month in which you receive the written overall result of your final examination. In a very advanced subject semester it can be presumed that your studies no longer take priority. The presumption can be rebutted, for example in cases of illness, disability, pregnancy, child care or caring for a relative. Between a bachelor’s and a master’s degree, you generally have no continuous membership with the university, and the mere intention to continue studying is not enough.

What applies to an internship instead of a working student job?

A compulsory internship is exempt from social insurance in all branches, regardless of working hours and pay. A voluntary interim internship above €603 per month follows the working student rule with the 20-hour limit. Up to €603, the mini-job rules apply. More details are in the article on insurance during an internship (in German).

Must a trainee lawyer be privately insured?

No, not necessarily. It depends on your status. Civil servants on probation, to whom trainees regularly belong, are contribution-free in health and nursing care insurance, but they arrange their own cover, either privately or through a voluntary statutory fund, each with supplementary state aid (Beihilfe). Trainee lawyers in a public-law training relationship are, by contrast, compulsorily insured in statutory insurance and have no entitlement to Beihilfe. Which case applies is stated in your appointment certificate or your letter of engagement.

Frequently asked questions

Am I required to be insured as a working student?

Yes, in Germany insurance is compulsory. As a statutorily insured person, you are in the student compulsory insurance. As an exempted person, you are privately insured. The working student privilege makes you exempt from health, nursing care and unemployment insurance as an employee, but this does not replace your health insurance. Family insurance applies only up to the income limit of €565 per month.

Who pays for ambulance transport and rescue services if I am privately insured?

As a privately insured person, you pay the bill first and submit it to your insurer. Whether your tariff covers ambulance transport and rescue journeys, and up to what amount, is set out in the policy conditions. For statutorily insured people, the fund pays for ambulance transport only when it is medically necessary and prescribed. The co-payment is 10%, at least €5 and at most €10 per journey. Higher statutory co-payments are planned under the GKV contribution rate stabilisation act, so check the current amounts with your fund.

How long do I have to submit a bill to my private insurer?

You can submit bills within three years of the end of the year in which they were issued. For example, a bill from March 2026 can be submitted until 31 December 2029. Keep all originals and submit them promptly.

Do evenings and weekends count toward the 20-hour rule?

More than 20 hours are harmless for up to 26 weeks a year, if the extra work falls only on weekends, evenings, nights or in the semester break, and it is unforeseeable or fixed in advance. Where you hold two jobs, the hours are added together. If in doubt, ask your fund or the HR department.

What to do now

1. Check your working hours: if you stay at up to 20 hours per week during term time, the working student privilege applies.
2. Clarify how you are insured: in the student compulsory insurance, privately after an exemption, or family insured.
3. If you are family insured, compare your income with €565, or €667.50 as an employee.
4. If the job will make you compulsorily insured in statutory insurance, discuss terminating your private contract with your insurer. You have three months to do so.
5. Report the start of the job and your working hours to your fund, and ask your employer about the rules on contributions.

If you want to talk through your situation, you will find the way to advice on the Academycon homepage (in German).

Related guides

• Work, taxes and contributions for students
• Part-Time Jobs and Taxes for Students in Germany
• Students over 30 with a mini-job: health insurance costs
• Working Student Health Insurance: Costs by Age
• German original (in German)

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