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What is the standard tariff (Standardtarif) in German private health insurance?

In short

What is the standard tariff (Standardtarif) in German private health insurance? It is a uniform social tariff offered by all private insurers, with benefits similar to public cover. The premium is capped at EUR 848.62 a month in 2026 but is usually much lower thanks to ageing reserves. Only people insured with their current insurer before 2009 can join, usually from 55 or 65.

What is the standard tariff (Standardtarif) in German private health insurance?

What it costs

Caps and deductibles in the standard tariff.

ExampleTypical range
Cap 2026, single personEUR 848.62 a month
Cap 2026, couple with income up to EUR 69,750EUR 1,272.93 a month
Cap with 70 percent state aidEUR 254.59 a month
Deductible for medicines and aidsEUR 306 to 500 a year, depending on year and group

As of October 2026, figures from the PKV association.

Your actual premium depends on your ageing reserves; your insurer gives the exact amount.

Worked example

Retiree, 68, privately insured since 1995

His normal tariff costs EUR 950 after several increases. The insurer credits his ageing reserves in the standard tariff.

Normal tariffEUR 950 a month
Standard tariff, assumedEUR 480 a month
SavingEUR 470 a month

He saves about EUR 5,600 a year but gives up chief physician and double room.

Who the standard tariff is for

The standard tariff is the oldest social tariff of German private health insurance and identical at all insurers. It gives long standing private patients affordable cover at public insurance level in old age.

Since the basic tariff (Basistarif) started in 2009, only people with full cover at their current insurer before 1 January 2009 can switch. Anyone who changed company since, or is insured only in unisex tariffs, has no access.

ConditionStandard tariff
Contract with current insurerbefore 1 January 2009
Time in private insuranceat least 10 years
Tariff typeat least partly a bisex tariff
Age and incomefrom 65, or from 55 with income up to EUR 69,750, or younger with a pension

Benefits and limits

Covered: outpatient care with check ups, dental care and dentures at 65 percent, general hospital care, psychotherapy after approval with up to 25 sessions a year, and medicines and aids at 80 percent. Chief physician and single or double rooms are not included. Tell each practice in advance that you are in the standard tariff.

Standard tariff or basic tariff

The basic tariff is open to everyone but costs up to EUR 1,017.18 in 2026, and almost everyone there pays the maximum. In the standard tariff nearly all members pay well below the cap because ageing reserves are credited. If you qualify, the standard tariff is usually the better choice.

Step by step

  1. Check when your contract started and whether you changed insurer.
  2. Compare age and income with the conditions.
  3. Ask your insurer in writing for the standard tariff premium.
  4. Apply and inform your doctors.

Checklist

  • Full cover before 1 January 2009 with the same insurer
  • At least 10 years in private insurance
  • Not only unisex tariffs
  • Income up to EUR 69,750 if under 65

Common mistakes

  • Switching to the basic tariff when the standard tariff is possible
  • Not telling the practice you are in the standard tariff
  • Keeping add on policies that are not allowed alongside

Questions and answers

Frequently asked

Can new customers join?

No.

Only people insured with their current insurer before 2009.

Is there a risk surcharge?

An existing surcharge stays.

A new one can only apply to benefits your old tariff did not cover.

Do I get a subsidy?

Employees get the employer subsidy, retirees a pension insurance subsidy on request,

each at most half the premium.

Can I add sickness daily allowance?

Yes, and it counts towards the cap.

Sources

NAMMERT insurance broker

Request a quote: Private health insurance

We compare insurers and come back to you, in English.

Free; the insurer pays our fee.

1Who is it for?
2Which insurance?

Choose as many as you like. For each one, the details an insurer needs for a quote appear below.

Personal

Business

3Details

Private health insurance in Germany (PKV)

For employees this decides whether private cover is possible

Keywords are enough, including treatment abroad.

We clarify this anonymously before any application.

4Your current policy
5How can we reach you?

Related questions

Your broker: Norman Nammert, trading as NAMMERT.

Insurance broker licensed under section 34d(1) of the German Trade Regulation Act.

Broker register no. D-C08Q-TOSD4-37.

NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH is a separate company.

It does not arrange your contract.

Statutory disclosure (German) · Updated

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