Private health insurers: the list of insurers in Germany

The list of private health insurers in Germany includes around 40 insurers that are licensed for comprehensive health insurance. All of them are supervised by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) and are regulated in the same way by the Insurance Supervision Act (VAG). Minimum actuarial standards, capital requirements and mandatory contents apply equally to all of them.

The market is concentrated. Five to seven large insurers together hold the largest part of all fully insured customers. The remaining 33 or so insurers serve specialized target groups or regional markets. In the Basistarif (i)BasistarifA statutory social plan that every private insurer must offer. Its benefits are comparable to statutory health insurance, and its premium is capped at the statutory maximum contribution.More about Basistarif → there is an obligation to accept. In the regular plans, the insurer decides on acceptance after the health questions.

The following profiles give a neutral overview of the size, focus and special features of the most important insurers. The order is alphabetical and is not a ranking. Figures for insured people and premiums are rounded guide values.

• Allianz Private Krankenversicherung: With around 2.5 million insured people and over €3.2 billion in premium income, one of the largest insurers. A broad range from comprehensive health insurance to supplementary insurance, with its own conditions for civil servants, doctors and judges, and an app for submitting bills.
• Alte Oldenburger: A smaller insurer with low calculations, around 300,000 insured people and about €215 million in premiums. The plans can be put together in modules, also as a 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 → plan for civil servants.
• ARAG Krankenversicherung: Part of the ARAG group, over 500,000 insured people and more than €340 million in premiums. Besides comprehensive and supplementary insurance, it also offers the Pflegepflichtversicherung (i)PflegepflichtversicherungCompulsory long-term care insurance. Everyone with health insurance in Germany must have it, privately insured people through their private insurer., and some plans include legal protection for patients.
• AXA Krankenversicherung: Over 1.7 million insured people and more than €3 billion in premiums. With DBV Deutsche Beamtenversicherung, it has its own branch for civil servants and the public sector, plus a no-claims refund for health-conscious behavior.
• Barmenia Krankenversicherung: A mutual insurance association with around 1.3 million insured people and over €1.5 billion in premiums. Its own plans for civil servants, students and doctors, a focus on sustainability, and video and second opinion services.
• Central Krankenversicherung: Part of the Generali Group, almost 2 million insured people and around €2 billion in premiums. Comprehensive health insurance for many occupational groups and supplementary plans that make a later switch to comprehensive health insurance easier.
• Concordia Krankenversicherung: A younger insurer (since 1990) with around 100,000 insured people and about €50 million in premiums. Comprehensive health insurance and Beihilfe (i) plans for civil servants, plus digital submission of bills.
• Continentale Krankenversicherung: A mutual insurance association with over 1.3 million insured people and around €1.5 billion in premiums. Comprehensive health insurance that you can design individually, with options for premium relief in old age.
• Debeka: The largest number of customers on the market, with over 4 million insured people and more than €5.4 billion in premiums. A mutual insurance association with a strong focus on civil servants.
• Deutscher Ring: Over 600,000 insured people and more than €660 million in premiums, part of the Signal group. Plans from basic to premium benefits for employees and the self-employed.
• DEVK Krankenversicherung: Around 400,000 insured people and about €75 million in premiums. A focus on comprehensive health insurance and travel plans, as well as supplementary and daily allowance plans.
• DKV Deutsche Krankenversicherung: Part of the ERGO Group, over 4.4 million insured people and around €4.8 billion in premiums. Comprehensive health insurance for the self-employed, employees and civil servants, many supplementary plans and company health insurance.
• Gothaer Krankenversicherung: Almost 600,000 insured people and about €850 million in premiums. Comprehensive and supplementary insurance with benefits you can personalize and digital health services.
• Hallesche Krankenversicherung: Over 700,000 insured people and more than €1 billion in premiums. Low-cost comprehensive plans for employees and the self-employed, its own plans for doctors and civil servants, and plans for people working abroad.
• HanseMerkur Krankenversicherung: A mutual insurance association with over 1.5 million insured people and over €1 billion in premiums. Comprehensive health insurance, Beihilfe (i) plans and plans for stays abroad, plus supplementary and student plans.
• HUK-Coburg Krankenversicherung: Over 1 million insured people and around €1.1 billion in premiums, with a strong focus on civil servants and the public sector. More and more plans for employees and the self-employed as well.
• Inter Krankenversicherung: Around €700 million in premiums, with a focus on plans for doctors and civil servants. Its supplementary plans are also designed for individual occupational groups.
• Landeskrankenhilfe (LKH): A mutual insurance association with over 400,000 insured people and around €830 million in premiums. A focus on civil servants and doctors, complemented by plans for the self-employed and employees.
• LVM Krankenversicherung: Over 350,000 insured people and around €350 million in premiums. Originally founded for agriculture and strong in rural regions, today comprehensive health insurance for many occupations.
• Mecklenburgische Krankenversicherung: A smaller insurer with almost 70,000 insured people and about €17 million in premiums. Plans from entry level to premium level, also for business founders.
• Münchener Verein: Around 300,000 insured people and almost half a billion euros in premiums, with a focus on skilled trades. Plus offers for people with statutory health insurance and for the generation 50 plus.
• Nürnberger Krankenversicherung: Over 300,000 insured people. Comprehensive health insurance for employees, the self-employed and civil servants, as well as strong supplementary plans for dental and hospital care.
• ottonova: A young, fully digital insurer with around 15,000 insured people. Comprehensive health insurance, supplementary and Beihilfe (i) plans with consistently digital service and a concierge.
• R+V Krankenversicherung: Around 900,000 insured people and over €500 million in premiums within the cooperative banking group. Comprehensive health insurance for employees, civil servants and the self-employed, with a no-claims refund.
• Signal Iduna Krankenversicherung: Over 2 million insured people and almost €2 billion in premiums. Broad plans for all occupational groups, high no-claims refunds and its own team for insured people with serious illnesses. UKV belongs to the group.
• SDK Süddeutsche Krankenversicherung: A mutual insurance association with cooperative ties, over 700,000 insured people and almost €800 million in premiums. Comprehensive health insurance and supplementary plans with prevention services.
• UKV Union Krankenversicherung: Over 1.2 million insured people, insurance partner of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe and part of the Signal Iduna group. Comprehensive health insurance, Beihilfe (i) and supplementary plans.
• uniVersa Krankenversicherung: The oldest insurer on the market, over 300,000 insured people and more than half a billion euros in premiums. Plans for employees, the self-employed, students, civil servants and doctors.
• Versicherungskammer Bayern: A public insurer and market leader in Bavaria and the Palatinate, over 1.8 million insured people and more than €1.5 billion in premiums. Comprehensive health insurance, plans for civil servants and supplementary insurance.
• Württembergische Krankenversicherung: Around 350,000 insured people, with a focus on supplementary insurance. Two plans give people with statutory health insurance outpatient treatment as a private patient.

Besides the insurers for comprehensive health insurance, there are smaller and specialized companies that only insure certain groups or focus on supplementary insurance:

• Augenoptiker Ausgleichskasse (AKA): An industry insurer exclusively for opticians and hearing aid acousticians.
• Die Bayerische: A focus on supplementary insurance, above all dental and travel abroad.
• Envivas: A supplementary insurer and cooperation partner of the Techniker Krankenkasse, around 400,000 insured people.
• ERGO Krankenversicherung: A broad range of supplementary insurance, for example for teeth and eyes, over 1.5 million insured people.
• Freie Arzt- und Medizinerkasse (FAMK): A specialist insurer for people entitled to Beihilfe (i) and for doctors, active in Hesse.
• LIGA Krankenversicherung katholischer Priester: A small association for Catholic clergy.
• Mannheimer Versicherung: Part of the Continentale group, comprehensive and supplementary insurance.
• Praenatura: A supplementary insurer for complementary healing and prevention methods.
• VGH, formerly Provinzial Hannover: A regional insurer for Bremen and Lower Saxony, for civil servants, the self-employed and employees.
• Vigo, Düsseldorfer Versicherung: A focus on supplementary insurance and supplementary long-term care insurance, around 20,000 insured people.

If you are looking for a suitable insurer, you should pay attention above all to these points:

• Chances of acceptance with your own health situation: not every insurer accepts every applicant on the same terms. Pre-existing conditions, risk surcharges and benefit exclusions differ considerably. An anonymous risk enquiry before the formal application protects you from an entry in the industry register.
• Premium stability: the history of premium adjustments over the last ten years shows how an insurer has dealt with rising costs.
• Scope of benefits: alternative practitioner, dentures, single or two-bed room, chief physician treatment, spa and rehabilitation benefits. The scope must match your own needs, not the market standard.
• Service quality: speed of reimbursement, availability and goodwill in borderline cases.

Around 8.7 million people across Germany have comprehensive private health insurance. By September 2025, the ageing reserves of the industry added up to around €351 billion. Both figures come from the statistics of the association of private health insurers and the BaFin annual report.

The level of the ageing reserves shows that private health insurance calculates for the long term and sets aside considerable funds for stable premiums in retirement.

From over 5,000 applications with health questions and advisory mandates, we see this: the most common mistake when choosing an insurer is to go by how well known the brand is, instead of by the two criteria that really count.

Before every decision, we recommend that you set two criteria as the most important: premium stability over the past ten years and how the insurer accepts applicants with your own pre-existing condition. Everything else is secondary.

Which insurer suits your own situation best cannot be judged without an anonymous risk enquiry and a complete plan analysis.

Around 40 insurers are licensed for comprehensive private health insurance. The number has been stable for years. Mergers and takeovers happen, new insurers are rarely founded.

In a regular plan, yes, after the health questions. In the Basistarif there is an obligation to accept, and no insurer may reject this application. The Basistarif (i) is the only route for people with serious pre-existing conditions without a risk surcharge.

Not automatically. Premium stability and the scope of benefits are decided at the level of the plan. Specialized or medium-sized insurers are often cheaper for their target group than the large generalists.

There is no complete public database. As part of our advice, we provide data on the history of premium adjustments over the last ten years.