Health & Travel Insurance for German Visa application and Studies

 It is mandatory for every one to get compulsory heath insurance during stay of Germany and travel insurance when intend to travel to Germany for any purpose.  Travel insurance (one you need during visa application) and health insurance (which you buy after reaching in Germany).This article covers details of getting health  and travel insurance. 

1-Travel insurance: Required by embassy/consulate as mandatory visa application document. The insurance should be valid for 1 to 3 months, around the dates in which you intend to fly . It should provide a cover of 30,000 Euros. Most of time the difference between travel insurance of 1 month and 3 month is very less, so I recommend you to buy 3 months travel insurance. It gives you some edge to plan the intended travel dates. Generally it costs around 6000 to 7000 PKRS.

Mostly travel insurance covers your air trip and couple of week period after you acquire health insurance in Germany.

You can find more information here:

Adam Gee: 021 - 3241 2623 / 3241 4162
021 - 3241 5335
Internet:
www.adamjeeinsurance.com

Atlas Insurance
021 - 3536 9471-4
www.atlasinsurance.com.pk


2-Health insurance: It is compulsory for every citizen and animal in Germany to acquire health insurance. You will not get enrollment in university or any legal status in Auslanderbehorde without acquiring valid health insurance. Generally there are public sector and private sector health insurance options in Germany. The following section will help to understand between both types.

Public vs Private Insurance

There are two types of Insurances in Germany:  Public health insurance like TK or AOK & private ones like mawista & many others. Following are differences between both: 

Payment Method:

The public Health insurance has wide acceptability in term of doctor panels throughout Germany. Mostly they have cards through which  fee of the doctor is directly paid . While in the case of Private health insurance you have to pay first & then the bills are reimbursed. Also you can visit the selected doctors as recommended by the private health insurance. 

Insurance cover & Monthly Beitrag:
Besides this fact there is difference between possible cover of insurance. Public health insurance covers spectra more broad than the private one.

  The disadvantage of public insurance is that it is expensive. normally it is around 80 Euros if you are less then age of 30 & 150 euros if you are more elder. The private health Insurances are cheap , typical cost is between 28 euros to 35 euros per month. 


However this is just introductory cost after one year this cost will be increased & you have to switch your insurance to another private company. But you can get the same introductory cost if you resign the contract with the insurance company.

Leaving Insurance:

Once you acquire the public Health insurance and you leave public health insurance you can't switch back to public till you change your VISA status. However visaversa is possible. So if you start with public health insurance , think well before leaving it. 

Acceptance of Insurance:

Sometimes there are issues of acceptance of insurance in AAA of your university. TK & AOK are accepted by every university, some selected brands of private insurance may not be accepted by your AAA. For further information please visit the insurance policies of particular companies.

Single versus Married Prospect:

Public Health Insurance automatically covers your whole family. It does not matter if you are single or with family you have to pay same for Public Health insurance while in Private health insurance the cover is for single person & for family you need separate policy.

Summary

If you are single and intend to remain single while living in Germany and on top of that if you rarely visit a doctor then private insurance is a cheaper option. But as mentioned above you have to pay doctors personally before getting refund from insurance company. These payments can be quite high so be prepared to have lot of money available on demand in your account for the situation when you get severely ill or other expensive treatment like with dentists. Public insurance is good if you frequently visit doctor or if you intend to keep your family in Germany. Public insurance cover your whole family while private covers individuals. Last but not least advice, never save on the risk of health & safety.

Author: 

Hassan Bhatti

hassan.nazeerch@hotmail.com

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