Health insurance during parental leave
Depending on your insurance status there are different rules apply during parental leave
Thanks to parental allowance, more and more mothers and fathers are taking parental leave to experience their child's development up close during the particularly eventful first years of life. However, during their time off work, parents not only have more time for their children, parental leave also has an impact on their contributions to statutory health insurance. In most cases, no contributions need to be paid at all, or the costs are at least lower. Whether and how much needs to be paid varies from person to person, depending on their own insurance and, in some cases, that of their spouse. The type of insurance also plays a role in covering the child: while they are usually covered free of charge under statutory insurance, parents with private health insurance may incur additional costs.
Read the regulations in detail here and find out under what conditions children can be insured free of charge under statutory health insurance.
Employees with a gross monthly income of less than €6,450 in 2026 are subject to compulsory insurance and are exempt from paying health insurance contributions during parental leave. This rule also applies to recipients of unemployment benefit I.
Employees who earn more than €6,450 per month or €77,400 per year are no longer subject to compulsory insurance, but can take out voluntary statutory insurance. If the spouse or registered partner is covered by statutory insurance, no contributions are payable during parental leave, provided that their income does not exceed €565 or €603 in the case of a mini-job.
For voluntarily insured persons who do not have a spouse who is covered by statutory insurance, the contribution amount depends on the family income. For married couples, their own income is added to that of their privately insured partner. The contribution is then calculated on this basis. Parental allowance does not count as income, but it is taxable income like capital gains or rental income.
Non-contributory insurance is also not possible for unmarried voluntarily insured persons. Contributions during parental leave are also based on the taxable income that exists during parental leave. If there is no income other than parental allowance, parents pay an insurance contribution of around €280 per month.
Self-employed persons cannot register for parental leave, but they can take time off to care for their children and receive parental allowance. If they do not earn any income from self-employment during this period, they have the option of reducing their contributions. In this case, the minimum assessment threshold for voluntarily insured persons applies. The lowest possible contribution is then around €280. If the business is deregistered, former self-employed persons can also obtain family insurance free of charge through their spouse who is insured under the statutory insurance scheme.
Students who are compulsorily insured pay the student contribution for their health insurance while receiving parental allowance if they remain enrolled at their university. If they deregister and have a spouse who is covered by statutory insurance, they can obtain statutory health insurance free of charge through their spouse.
During parental leave, mothers or fathers remain privately insured. They must also pay the employer's contribution. Free family insurance through a spouse or partner who is covered by statutory insurance is not possible in this case.
In the following cases, you can insure your child free of charge under SBK family insurance:
Statutory health insurance companies, including ours, must regularly check whether the requirements for free family insurance are still met. To do this, customers fill out a questionnaire that they receive from their insurance company and send it back to them.
At SBK, this can also be done very easily using an online form with fields that are already pre-filled with your data. All you have to do is fill in a few missing details. Your personal SBK consultant will inform you and send you the necessary access data as soon as the form for free family insurance can be filled out – you don't need to remember any deadlines.
You can also find the family questionnaire and many other useful services in Meine SBK, which you can easily register for.
