Zusatzbeitrag 2027 stays at 2.9% - yours may not

The official average Zusatzbeitrag 2027, the supplementary contribution that statutory health insurers charge on top of the general rate, will stay at 2.9 percent. The Federal Ministry of Health announced the figure on 30 October 2026, just ahead of its legal deadline of 1 November. The figure is a benchmark. What millions of employees, pensioners and self-employed people actually pay depends on their own Krankenkasse, and many funds already charge more than the average.

The coming weeks matter for people in the statutory system. Each health insurer still has to set its own rate for the new year, and if your fund raises its contribution on 1 January, you have a special right to switch to a cheaper one.

Zusatzbeitrag 2027 officially stays at 2.9 percent

The ministry based its decision on the forecast of the Schätzerkreis, the panel of experts from the Health Ministry, the Federal Office for Social Security and the umbrella association of statutory health insurers (GKV-Spitzenverband), which met on 14 October. Unlike last year, the panel agreed on a common forecast, the welfare association Der Paritätische noted. By law, the ministry has to fix the average rate and publish it in the Bundesanzeiger, the federal gazette, by 1 November each year.

Federal Health Minister Carsten Linnemann presented the stable rate as a success. In the ministry's statement, he said the average supplementary contribution had risen further and further in recent years and that the government had now stopped this trend. He also called it only a first step and said structural problems in statutory health insurance still had to be tackled. According to the ministry, the commission in charge will present further reform proposals before the end of 2026.

What the forecast is based on

The Zusatzbeitrag 2027 is based on a detailed forecast. The Schätzerkreis expects spending by statutory health insurers to reach about 378.1 billion euros in 2027, according to Der Paritätische and the finance portal Biallo. Revenue of the Gesundheitsfonds, the central health fund that collects contributions and passes them on to the insurers, is projected at 320.7 billion euros, including a new federal subsidy of 13.15 billion euros, Der Paritätische reports. The gap is covered by the supplementary contributions.

The main reason for the stable average is a slowdown in spending. The ministry expects costs to rise by less than 3 percent in 2027, after almost 7 percent in 2026. It credits the GKV contribution stabilisation law (GKV-BStabG), which it says will relieve the insurers by up to 19 billion euros next year. If the forecast holds, 2027 would be the first year in three in which revenue growth covers rising costs. According to the Deutsche Handwerks Zeitung, the average supplementary rate more than doubled from 1.3 percent in 2022 to 2.9 percent before this pause.

Why real Zusatzbeitrag rates differ from the average

Each Krankenkasse sets its own supplementary rate, and the official figure is a guide. Among the 93 statutory insurers, rates currently range from 2.18 to 4.39 percent, Apotheken Umschau and Biallo report. The average actually charged is around 3.1 percent, according to the funds themselves; the substitute health funds' association vdek puts it at 3.13 percent.

Several insurers are expected to set their own Zusatzbeitrag 2027 above the stable benchmark. Many funds still need to rebuild their financial reserves to the legal minimum, the vdek and the GKV-Spitzenverband say. The vdek also warns that a planned location clause for the pharmaceutical industry could cost up to 1.3 billion euros without any counter-financing. Vdek chair Ulrike Elsner said the government had kept its word and stopped the contribution spiral for now, but warned that rates could rise again if the savings law is watered down. Green health politician Janosch Dahmen expects the real average to be at least 3.1 percent in 2027, Apotheken Umschau reports, and Ramona Pop, head of the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv), called the stability promise "window dressing", according to echo24.

Zusatzbeitrag 2027, savings package and extra costs

The stable rate could come at a price for patients. According to Apotheken Umschau, the savings package the coalition agreed in the summer includes plans for higher co-payments for medicines and for restrictions on the free co-insurance of spouses through the Familienversicherung, the family insurance that lets dependants be covered without their own contributions. Echo24 reports that co-payments for medicines and hospital stays are set to rise by 50 percent. When these changes would take effect and how large they will be has not been officially confirmed, and according to the vdek, amendments in parliament have already reduced some of the planned savings.

Insured people also need to check their rates more closely. Since 30 July 2026, health insurers no longer have to inform members individually when they raise the supplementary contribution, the consumer advice centre Verbraucherzentrale and the portal gegen-hartz.de point out. Until then, funds had to send a letter at least one month before an increase. According to the Verbraucherzentrale, this duty was dropped with the GKV contribution stabilisation law, and there is no general duty to inform members digitally either. The special right to switch still exists, but you now have to spot an increase yourself, for example on your payslip, on your insurer's website or in the list of all funds published by the GKV-Spitzenverband.

What the Zusatzbeitrag 2027 means for expats

If you are employed and in statutory insurance, you pay the general rate of 14.6 percent of your gross salary plus your fund's supplementary contribution, and your employer pays half of both, the Verbraucherzentrale explains. The differences affect monthly costs. On a gross salary of 3,800 euros, the employee's share of the supplementary contribution is about 41 euros a month at 2.18 percent and about 83 euros at 4.39 percent, roughly 500 euros a year apart, according to the Verbraucherzentrale's calculation.

The special right to switch runs until the end of the month in which the higher rate first applies. If your Krankenkasse raises its rate on 1 January 2027, you can therefore switch until 31 January 2027. You do not need to cancel with your old fund: join the new one and tell it that you are using the special right to switch, and it will handle the paperwork. Your old membership then ends after a notice period of two full months, so you would be covered by the new fund from 1 April, as both the Verbraucherzentrale and gegen-hartz.de explain. The usual 12-month minimum stay does not apply after a rate increase, and the special right generally covers optional tariffs (Wahltarife) too, according to the Verbraucherzentrale. The exception is the optional sick pay tariff for voluntarily insured members, which keeps a three-year tie-in. Our guide to public vs private health insurance in Germany explains the basics of the system, and our earlier report on the 2026 contribution increases shows how quickly rates have climbed.