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Public health insurance bonus programs

You might already know that every public health insurance company offers bonus programs. But what are they, how do they work, and how can you take full advantage of them?

Let's first understand what it is.

The concept of bonus programs is the same among all the public health insurers: They reward their members for taking care of their health.

What does taking care of your health mean?

• You participate in the preventive examinations (paid by your health insurer) regularly.
• You get a dental checkup every year.
• You participate in gym courses certified by Zentrale Prüfstelle Prävention (ZPP). You can find the certified courses near you on ZPP's website.

How do you get the bonus?

Just taking care of your health is not enough to get the subsidies and bonus. You must

• register yourself in your health insurer's bonus program
• and record your activities in your health insurer's app or bonus booklet.

So, next time you go to your dentist or a yoga class, ask your dentist or the yoga instructor to stamp your bonus booklet. If your insurer offers a digital solution, you just have to enter the details in your insurer's mobile app.

What benefits do bonus programs usually offer?

Statutory health insurance companies are not allowed to pay membership fees for a fitness studio or similar. So, the workaround insurers came up with is to give bonus points to their members.

You usually have two options.

• You can either convert these bonus points into cash and get paid.
• You can also use these bonus points to get subsidies for various things. For example, subsidies on dental insurance, eyeglasses, acupuncture, gym membership, health tracking and measuring devices, etc.

Where can you find more information about the bonus program?

Simply search "," and you'll find the official page from your health insurance company describing the bonus program.

Many public health insurance companies explain the bonus program only in German. However, you can translate the page using Google Translate.

Keep an eye on your public health insurance premium

Public health insurance companies have increased or will increase their premiums further in January 2025. So, you should keep an eye on your premium.

If your insurer charges more than 1.2% as additional contributions (Zusatzbeitrag), you should switch to a cheaper public health insurer to save money. You can learn more about how much you can save by switching here.

NOTE: The German government regulates public health insurance companies' medical coverage. Therefore, all public insurers offer similar services. However, they vary in their bonus programs, digital offerings, English support, etc.

Visualization of the week

Germany’s healthcare expenditures have been increasing on average by 4.5% annually since 2009. They were 281.6 billion euros in 2009 and 497.7 billion euros in 2022, a 76.7% increase.

Of course, the aging population is not the only factor contributing to the rise in healthcare expenditure. But if it is, then for every 1% increase in the aging population, there is an approximate 4% increase in health expenditures.

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