Nursing care insurance
Get optimal protection with SBK when you need nursing care.
Generally speaking, all members of the statutory health insurance scheme, regardless of whether this is on a compulsory or voluntary basis, are insured for nursing care. The best thing to do is speak to your personal SBK consultant on a one-to-one basis to discuss which care services are most suitable for you or your loved ones.
Statutory nursing care insurance covers you when you need outpatient or inpatient care as a one-time occurrence. Together with your health insurance you also have nursing care insurance, no matter whether you are a compulsory or voluntary insurant.
Contributions to nursing care insurance
Your contribution amount is calculated from your gross income. This also applies to the calculation of health insurance contributions. The limit for calculating contributions in 2025 is €5,512.50 per month. If your income is below this limit, you will only pay the contributions based on your calculated gross income. If your gross income is above this limit, you will not pay any nursing care insurance contributions for the part of your income that exceeds this limit.
For voluntarily insured persons (e.g. not gainfully employed or self-employed), there is a minimum limit from which the contributions are calculated, even if the actual income is lower. Further information on contributions for voluntarily insured persons can be found
The nursing care insurance contribution rate is made up of the basic contribution rate and, if applicable, a contribution surcharge or contribution deductions. Half of the basic contribution rate for employees and retired persons is paid by the employer or the pension insurance provider.
The care contribution increases for insured persons without children and decreases for all parents with several children under the age of 25. This also applies if they are not biological children but foster, step or adopted children.
Nursing care insurance holders without a child pay a surcharge on the nursing care contribution from the month following their 23rd birthday. This surcharge is waived permanently as soon as you have at least one child. Since July 1, 2023, parents with several children have been entitled to additional discounts on the nursing care contribution. A contribution discount of 0.25 percentage points is taken into account for the second to fifth child under the age of 25.
| Number of children | Amount of basic contribution rate in %* |
|---|---|
| Insured persons without a child | 4.2 % |
| Insured persons with one child | 3.6 % |
| Insured persons with two children under the age of 25 | 3.35 % |
| Insured persons with three children under the age of 25 | 3.1 % |
| Insured persons with four children under the age of 25 | 2.85 % |
| Insured persons with four children under the age of 25 | 2.6 % |
* The employer's contribution is 1.8 %, in Saxony 1.3 %.
One example:
With a gross income of €2,500 per month and an employer's contribution of 1.8% (1.3% in Saxony), the nursing care insurance contribution is calculated as follows:
For insured persons with a child or under the age of 23:
€2,500 x 3.6% = €90 nursing care insurance contribution per month
€ 2,500 x 1.8% = € 45 employer's share of the nursing care insurance contribution
90 € - 45 € = 45 € employee's share of the nursing care insurance contribution
For insured persons without a child from the age of 23:
€ 2,500 x 4.2% = € 105 nursing care insurance contribution per month
2,500 x 1.8 % = € 45 employer's share of the nursing care insurance contribution
105 € - 45 € = 60 € employee's share of the nursing care insurance contribution
Staying insured voluntarily
If you are no longer required to keep social nursing care insurance and do not have statutory health insurance, you can still opt to continue your social nursing care insurance voluntarily. Please submit an application for this within three months. You are not entitled to continue your insurance if you take out private health insurance, however. In this case you need private nursing care insurance.
