Public employer: the state employer of civil servants and its duties

In Germany, civil servants are usually not compulsorily insured in statutory health insurance. They can take out voluntary statutory health insurance or private health insurance. Most civil servants choose private health insurance, because the public employer already pays a considerable part of the medical costs through Beihilfe.

Through its Beihilfe (i)BeihilfeThe state healthcare allowance for civil servants. The Beihilfestelle pays a fixed share of medical costs, the Beihilfesatz, and private insurance covers the rest.More about Beihilfe → rate, the public employer determines how large the gap is that private health insurance has to close. Federal civil servants without children usually receive 50% Beihilfe. A Restkostenversicherung for the remaining 50%, together with Beihilfe, gives full cost coverage. When they take out a policy, civil servants must state their public employer and their valid Beihilfe rate, because a wrong rate leads to a plan that is too expensive or to a gap in cover.

The Beihilfe (i) rules of the public employer also determine which treatments and types of benefits are eligible for Beihilfe at all. Not everything a doctor bills is automatically eligible. Dentures, glasses, services of an alternative practitioner and certain medicines can be treated differently depending on the public employer, and a Restkostenversicherung (i)Restkostenversicherung · RestkostentarifA private plan that covers the share of medical costs that Beihilfe does not pay. Together with Beihilfe it gives civil servants full cover.More about Restkostentarif → should take this into account.

Federal civil servants are subject to the federal Beihilfe (i) regulation, state civil servants to the allowance regulations of their federal state. These sets of rules sometimes differ considerably, for example in which expenses are eligible or in the Beihilfe rate for certain benefits. If you are a state civil servant and calculate with federal values, you may get the numbers wrong. The term public employer is not a synonym for an employer in everyday language, because the service relationship of a civil servant is a special relationship of loyalty under public law with mutual duties.

In most cases, the public employer stays the same throughout a civil servant's career. There are, however, situations in which the service relationship changes, for example in a transfer, a move from a federal to a state authority or on retirement.

In retirement, your status changes to retired civil servant, and the Beihilfe (i) rate rises to 70% at federal level and in many states, because retired civil servants are placed in a higher category there than active civil servants. This has a direct effect on private health insurance: a Restkostenversicherung (i) designed for 50% may then have to be adjusted to 30%. This adjustment requires that the plan includes a suitable adjustment option, which is why civil servants should ask about it specifically when they take out a policy.

The relationship with the public employer ends with the death of the civil servant. Special rules apply to surviving dependents, because widows and orphans can apply for Beihilfe (i) themselves under certain conditions. This depends on the Beihilfe regulation of the public employer concerned and should be taken into account when you plan cover for your family.

We recommend that you show your insurance broker the letter from your public employer on your Beihilfe (i) rules before you take out a policy. It contains the valid Beihilfe rate, special rules for certain types of benefits and any exclusions. Only with this letter can the actual cover needed from private health insurance be determined.