Where/What - Health insurance contributions with an S1 form?

[rene jan]

Hello, my name is Rene and I am new here on this forum. I am a retired Dutch national albeit a French resident with a UK State pension. I have never been a (tax) resident in Germany, never worked/lived there before. However I am exploring the possibility of moving to Germany and using the S1 form mechanism to enroll into the German Public healthcare system. My S1 will be issued by the UK and not by France based on the total NI contributions made in each of these countries. So I have been looking into what monthly premiums I may have to pay for the corresponding health cover and to who.

This is what I understand so far but I am not sure whether it is correct. I would appreciate it if readers can confirm or add/modify things if needed?

1) Once I receive my S1 certificate from the UK I will go to a German KrankenKasse (KK) and give them this S1 certificate. In return they will give me a medical card which I can use to receive "free" medical care within the German Public Health System (except for say co-payments).
2) Once I have consulted a Dr in Germany, this Dr will send his/her bill to the KK directly. Subsequently the KK will pay this bill from a lump sum which they received from the UK national health care insurance system under the S1 scheme.
3) Since the KK is just the German administrator of my UK national health insurance plan, I don't pay any health plan contributions to the KK (since they will be paid from this UK lump sum). That way it seems that I will be exempt from health insurance contributions in Germany?
4) The UK overseas health care service (among other sources) confirms that no health care insurance premiums will be deducted from my UK state pension either since I have been contributing into a health insurance fund during my working career in the UK.

So I have been researching where and to whom I would need to pay health care insurance contributions once I am in the public German health care system. Perhaps my picture as a new-bee is too simple... it seems that everything is already in place once the S1 has been handed over to the KK. Hence I wonder whether I may have missed something? What is the catch if there is any?

Any thoughts/comments/corrections/suggestions would be highly appreciated! Thank you for your help and time! -Rene

[Franklan]

Any thoughts/comments/corrections/suggestions would be highly appreciated! Thank you for your help and time! -Rene

My KK (German abbreviation for 'Health insurance') is and has been DAK for a long time.

A few weeks ago, I got an email from them, and in the footer of the email was this:

For personal contact [..]
phone: 040 325 325 536
e-mail us to english@dak.de or use our contact form
www.dak.de

So, they're actively pointing out that one can contact them in English! I think that's great.

The only other German KK - to my knowledge - that claims that communication in English is possible is "Techniker Krankenkasse". So for a start, contacting DAK or TK in English would be a good starting point.

And welcome to this forum!

[PandaMunich]

No catch, except that you will not have cover for long-term care (Pflegeversicherung) like German pensioners do.
But it costs them, 3.6% if they ever had a child, otherwise 4.2% of their pension every month.

Why?
Because this "helping out" (Leistungsaushilfe) that you described and that public health insurers do within Europe (and despite Brexit, the UK is still in the system) only applies to health insurance, not long-term care insurance, which was introduced later.

[rene jan]

Many thanks to both Franklan and PandaMunich, My apologies for the late reply, I forgot to refresh my browser window... duh!

@Franklan... very helpful to know that there might be English speaking support available for further queries!

@PandaMunich... very helpful to know that there is no catch and many thanks for pointing out that there is still the Pflegeversicherung contribution that needs to be paid.

I also looked at whether pensioners in Germany need to pay state pension and unemployment contributions. Google AI gave me the following info (please double check through other sources please!)... I hope it is constructive and helpful!

It seems that pensioners don't need to pay into Deutsche Rentenversicherun (state pension contribtions). The exception might apply to pensioners who continue to do paid work after their statutory retirement age.

And with respect to paying unemployment benefit contributions (Arbeitslosenversicherung), Google AI tells me the following:
Whether pensioners in Germany pay unemployment contributions depends entirely on whether they have reached the statutory retirement age (Regelaltersgrenze) and the type of additional income they receive. Unemployment contributions are only levied on active employment income, not on passive income like capital gains, rental income (Vermietung und Verpachtung), dividends, or private investments. Hence it seems that unemployment contributions are strictly tied to active employment income, not retirement payouts.

Thanks again for the earlier feedback on this forum, much appreciated!!

[Fraufruit]

Welcome to the nuthouse that is hTTi, Rene!

[rene jan]

@ Fraufruit... Thanks!! I have been googling for the meaning of hTTi assuming that it was some social security jargon. Interesting hits though... the Hotel and Tourism Training Institute or the Hohenstein Textile Testing Institute? And then the penny dropped when I looked at the URL

PS Honestly, getting familiar with a new social security or taxation system is not my favourite pastime, I am just trying to get past the necessary basics Anyway, I am glad that I found this hTTi forum!

[editorL]

I have been googling for the meaning of hTTi assuming that it was some social security jargon. Interesting hits though... the Hotel and Tourism Training Institute or the Hohenstein Textile Testing Institute? And then the penny dropped when I looked at the URL

A long long time ago there was a forum called ToytownMunich.

It eventually got renamed to ToytownGermany.

It eventually got sold to a company (That shall not be named).

This company (that shall not be named) eventually decided to shut the forum down, once they realized it costs more to run it than what it cashes in.

So, some former members of the now shut down forum (let's call them the 'three pantless ducklings') decided to create a non-commercial forum as a follow up of the previously vibrant forum; But they definitely wanted to avoid any possibility to get kicked in the (pantless) arse for copyright infringement.

And this is the explanation for the obscure link "happy.toytown.ing" and the name "hTTi": Avoid the possibility of being sued for copyright issues.


BTW, what do you think about the logo of this site?


Best regards
EditorL (one of the three pantless ducklings and also Site Admin of the day)