On July 27, 2026, the SPD executive committee decided to call for a legal “right to be forgotten” for people who have overcome cancer. Once medically justified periods have passed, the former illness should no longer have to be stated or taken into account for certain contracts. As a reference, the SPD names the French model with a general period of five years.
If you have had cancer and apply for private health insurance today, you know the situation: the health questions bring the illness back, even if it is medically over. This is exactly where the demand comes in.
First, the most important point: this is a political demand by a governing party. There is no draft bill and no rule in force. If you apply today, you must still answer the health questions completely and truthfully. Otherwise the pre-contractual duty of disclosure applies.
What exactly the SPD is calling for
| Point | Content of the demand |
|---|---|
| Decision | SPD executive committee, July 27, 2026 |
| Principle | After medically justified periods, a former cancer may no longer be asked about or taken into account |
| Period | Based on the French model: five years after the end of treatment |
| Contracts affected | Private health insurance, occupational disability insurance, life insurance, loans and mortgages |
| Other areas | Appointment as a civil servant, pre-employment medical checks in the public sector, adoption and foster care procedures |
| Status | Demand, no draft bill |
France introduced such a right back in 2016 and shortened the period to five years in 2022. Belgium and Luxembourg use a dynamic reference framework that sets different periods depending on the type of cancer. The SPD points out that Germany lags behind on this issue compared with other European countries. Support comes from patient organizations such as German Cancer Aid, the German Children’s Cancer Foundation and the German Society of Hematology and Medical Oncology.
Why this hits private health insurance at its core
Private health insurance calculates every contract individually. The health questions before the contract is concluded decide whether an application is accepted, at what premium and with what restrictions. If you bring a higher risk, you pay a risk surcharge or receive a benefit exclusion. This principle separates private health insurance from statutory health insurance, where the contribution depends on income and not on your state of health.
A right to be forgotten intervenes in exactly this calculation. The insurer would no longer be allowed to price in a risk that, in its own view, it still carries.
The critical point: cured is not free of risk
Medically, cancer is often seen as cured after five years without a relapse. For an insurer’s cost calculation, this is not the same thing. Three points play a role:
Follow-up examinations continue even after the period of remission has passed and cause costs that an insured person without this history does not have. Late effects of therapy, for example on the heart, kidneys or hormone balance, can appear years after treatment. For some types of cancer, the risk of relapse stays higher for decades, for others it actually falls to the level of the general population after a few years.
The CEO of a health insurer put it this way to Pfefferminzia: even with the same life expectancy, the higher use of services for check-ups and the effects of therapy make the insurance more expensive. These costs do not disappear when the question about the illness disappears. They are spread across the whole insurance pool.
What the insurers are calling for
The Association of Private Health Insurers rejects a uniform rule. Its head of communications, Dominik Heck, argues that individual, risk-based calculation protects the community of insured people from permanently rising premiums and so ensures premium stability. Some types of cancer, he says, carry a clearly higher risk of relapse even decades after treatment. The association considers a fixed period for all illnesses, all stages and all products to be inappropriate.
The German Insurance Association (GDV) welcomes the goal and in return calls for medically sound periods that are reviewed regularly and differ by type and stage of cancer. It also asks for a restriction to suitable products, limits on insured sums and the option to disclose an illness without this leading to a higher premium.
Both associations thus ask the same question: for which types of cancer, and from what point in time, is an illness really considered forgotten? The answer decides whether a rule is fair to those affected and at the same time fair to all other insured people who share the cost of the premiums.
Our assessment
In our advice work, we regularly see people who overcame cancer many years ago and today fail the health questions or are only accepted with high surcharges. It is right that politicians are taking up this problem.
However, a flat period of five years does not hold up medically. A skin cancer detected early and an advanced breast cancer have completely different prognoses after five years. A rule that treats both the same is either too strict for one group or too expensive for the pool. The Belgian approach with periods specific to each type of cancer is the better standard.
What a rule would mean for premiums cannot be put into reliable figures today. That depends on how many illnesses are covered, which periods apply and whether follow-up costs may be included in the calculation at all.
What applies to those affected today
A demand does not change the legal situation. For people who have overcome cancer and are looking into private health insurance, the following still applies:
| Step | Why |
|---|---|
| Answer the health questions completely and truthfully | A concealed illness puts your cover at risk under § 19 VVG, even years later |
| Anonymous risk enquiry before the application | The insurer assesses the case without a rejected application ending up in the insurers’ shared information system |
| Have doctors’ reports and follow-up findings ready | The more precise the documents, the more likely the risk is assessed individually rather than across the board |
| Ask several insurers at the same time | The assessment of the same illness differs from company to company |
We describe how health questions work with a pre-existing condition and which results are realistic under private health insurance with pre-existing conditions.
Conclusion and outlook
The SPD is calling for a right to be forgotten after cancer with a period of five years. The insurers object to the flat approach, not to the goal. The point of dispute is the period and how it is differentiated by type of cancer.
Whether and when this becomes law is open. The CDU has also spoken out in favor of such a right in the past, so a rule in this legislative period is conceivable. Until then, the existing legal situation applies without restriction. If you want to join private health insurance today with a history of cancer, you should go through the anonymous enquiry. We support you in this step and say openly when a switch to private health insurance is not the right decision.
