Health insurance for foreign PhD students in Germany

If you intend to do your doctorate in Germany, you are usually older than 30. If you are younger than 30 and not employed by your German university, you have the choice between a statutory student insurance and a private health insurance. But we will assume for now that you are older than 30, which is the general case.

Germany has a social security agreement with some countries. If you come from one of these countries, chances are good that your home health insurance will be accepted in Germany. If not, you will need a private health insurance.

So if you already have health insurance in your home country, check with your health insurance company to see if it covers your stay as a doctoral student in Germany and if your health coverage is sufficient.

What does "sufficient" mean in this context? Usually, statutory health insurances only pay for examinations and treatments what they would cost in your home country.

If you need treatment that costs more in Germany than in your home country, you have to pay the difference yourself. This can be very expensive for longer treatments, for example hospital stays.

In addition, a statutory health insurance usually never pays for a medical return transport. This means that if you get so sick that you can't travel yourself but have to be transported, and you would rather get well in your home country than in Germany, you have to pay for the return transport yourself.

For these reasons, many people take out additional private health insurance to protect themselves against precisely such cases.

If you are a PhD on a doctoral grant, check with the grant holder to see if you have health insurance through them and if this health coverage is sufficient for your work as a PhD. If not, you should know the following:

If you are employed at your German university, i.e. if you have an employment contract that is subject to social insurance, you are considered an employee and are normally covered by the statutory health insurance.

As a doctoral student over 30 without an employment contract, you must take out private insurance. Then you have the choice between a simple "travel health insurance" and a private health insurance. We are going to explain the difference between these two, because it can be very important for your life and your health.

The conventional travel health insurance (also "foreign health insurance") is intended as a supplement to your existing health insurance. That's why travel health insurance only pays for the bare essentials, namely so-called "acute" treatments. For example, if you have a bad toothache or break your leg when you fall off your bike on the way to university and have to go to the hospital.

What the travel health insurance usually does not pay for is preventive health care, which is very important if you are staying in Germany for a longer period of time. This includes preventive examinations and regular health checks.

And these are not only important for yourself, but also for your family, if your husband or wife and your children live with you in Germany. Therefore, we advise you to take out a comprehensive health insurance, because a comprehensive health insurance covers everything: acute and long-term treatments by doctors and hospitals as well as preventive examinations and health checks.

Our Provisit Science is exactly the right insurance for your stay as a PhD in Germany. Provisit Science has the status of a comprehensive health insurance because it meets the same legal requirements as a statutory German health insurance.

But Provisit Science offers much more than a statutory insurance. It pays for many examinations and treatments that a normal statutory insurance does not cover. And all this at a very reasonable price.

This means that your family and you not only have very good health coverage, but also the guarantee that your health coverage will be accepted by all authorities and universities.

We hope you and your family will enjoy your stay in Germany!