Starting a new job and getting health insurance - Germany

I am starting a new job in May and am not sure how the "whole working in Germany" and "health insurance" things work.

Ok, so my boss is applying for my work permit, but how do I get health insurance? At the moment I have no bank account so is it possible to rock up to a health insurance company somewhere and sign up? Or does my boss do this too?

You do it yourself. Go to a website with one of the insurers, sign yourself up, they will do the rest with your boss.

Is sign up free?

Yep.

Ok I'm having a bit of trouble with this. I have seen the BKK insurance is meant to be good on another thread, does anyone know the website? My German is terrible so a link to the sign up page would be awesome.

thanks!

This link provides a list of all insurance companies: Liste aller Betriebskrankenkassen

It is not actually a sign up page though.

Thanks, hmm anyone know how I actually manage to sign up for this thing?

I think it would be easier if you pick up one of the offices on the list that Nick linked, call, ask if they speak english and then ask them how the process goes. From the website I could see that you have to print the subscription form (wherever that is, I didn't look for it much) and send it by post. So it will in any case be necessary that at a certain moment you get in touch with them. You could also try the TK (tk-online.de). Some people there speak english, when I did my insurance for the first time I did it in english. Good luck.

Sorry folks but I honestly dont have time to read through the forums to get the answer. I did have a quick search but nothing directly answering this was visible in the limited time I had to look.

I started a new job in Frankfurt last week (from UK, permanent employment) and have had to sign up for health insurance.

According to my employer this is compulsory?

Its supposedly costing over 200euros a month - dont know what type of policy but that was the cheapest option I was given.

I was made aware that the deductions from my salary would be big but any tips on ways to get round this or reduce what I am paying.

Many Thanks

200€???

Thats cheap.. Dont moan or they may well just make you do it all yourself...

200 for your share is cheap, there has been changes to the laws here, so all newcomers to Germany have to go to state insurance, a super rip off, so, if they found you insurance for 200 a month, that is good.
There is no getting around paying for medical insurance here.
Welcome to Germany and TT

OK, I will settle for that then

Well, i am paying 165 euro for my share. It is private not state. If u are not married with chilldren, going to state insurance is not wise.

If your an employee than I wouldn't worry about it, the company will sign you up automaticly for one of the public insurance companies, you'll get a health card in the mail and your health insurance is part of the payroll taxes that everyone pays. You do have the option of private health care but unless your 100% fluent in German it isn't worth the hassle. The main difference from the rest of Europe is in Germany you don't have the option of purchasing private health care on top of the state plan. for example in Spain my wife (I'm not legal yet so I'm not paying any taxes on my inocme) is paying for public health care via payroll taxes as well we have purchased private healthcare which we pay out of pocket. This isn't possible in Germany. You have to go either public or private and regardless it comes out of your pretax income. Generally speaking there is very little difference between the various insurance companies just take what ever option the employer signs you up for. As for "how much" it costs per month, it's really a meanless number becuase it's part of your payroll taxes. What matters is the take home.

If your already an employee than more than likely they've already signed you up automatically, check with HR but you should get a Krankenkasse card in the mail in a few days, that's all you need to get healthcare, other than the 10 euro co-pay . If your with AOK you will occasionally get a form in the mail asking for family details which you mail back. I used to get them once or twice a year, never knew if I filed them out properly but I never had a problem with my card at the doctor.