Supplementary outpatient insurance

Ambulant means outpatient: any treatment that does not involve staying overnight in hospital. That covers appointments with your Hausarzt (GP) or a specialist, lab tests and therapies, and even outpatient surgery after which you go home the same day. The opposite is stationär (inpatient), when you are admitted to hospital and stay overnight. For insurance the difference matters. Supplementary outpatient insurance pays for care outside hospital, while a hospital stay is covered by a Krankenhauszusatzversicherung (supplementary hospital insurance).

What the Krankenkasse (statutory health insurer) does not pay, or only partly pays, outside hospital. Depending on the tariff, that means Heilpraktiker (non-medical practitioners) and naturopathy, usually at 80% of the bill, check-ups and vaccinations beyond the Kasse’s catalogue, for example for travel, hearing aids and other Hilfsmittel (medical aids), and Zuzahlungen (statutory co-payments) for medicines and Heilmittel (prescribed therapies such as physiotherapy). For a prescription medicine you currently pay €5 to €10, from 2027 €7.50 to €15. Some tariffs also include glasses. Everything is subject to an annual limit. Ordinary doctor visits still go through the Kasse: to be treated as a Privatpatient (private patient), you usually need Kostenerstattung (cost reimbursement) and a special tariff.

The Krankenkasse (statutory health insurer) does not: Heilpraktiker (non-medical practitioners) are not Vertragsärzte (doctors contracted to the Kassen), so you pay their bills yourself. That is exactly what supplementary outpatient insurance is for. It usually reimburses 80% of the bill: up to €750 per calendar year in Signal Iduna’s AmbulantPLUSpur, and out of one shared annual budget for all benefits in Barmenia’s Mehr Gesundheit. Naturopathy from doctors is reimbursed the same way. Some tariffs have a three-month Wartezeit (waiting period) for Heilpraktiker, Barmenia for example. In consultations I first ask how much you spend on a Heilpraktiker each year, and we choose the limit from there.

No, it only applies outside hospital. In hospital the Krankenkasse (statutory health insurer) pays for general hospital services: a shared ward and treatment by the doctor on duty. A single or double room and treatment by the Chefarzt (head physician) are Wahlleistungen (optional hospital services), paid by you or by a Krankenhauszusatzversicherung (supplementary hospital insurance). That is why many people combine both, and this page shows ready-made packages. With a hospital tariff, check up to which multiple of the GOÄ (doctors’ fee scale) it reimburses doctors’ bills; 3.5 times is usual. Also check whether it pays in a private clinic with no Kasse contract, as many insurers do not.

Yes. The usual Wartezeit (waiting period) for supplementary insurance is three months, and eight for dental prosthetics and giving birth in hospital. Many tariffs waive it, though: Signal Iduna has none in either its outpatient or its hospital tariffs, and only laser eye surgery has to wait three years. In Barmenia’s outpatient tariff the three months apply only to Heilpraktiker (non-medical practitioners) and naturopathy. No waiting period does not mean no checks: there are almost always health questions, and a wrong answer can cost you the payout or even the policy.

It depends on your age and the annual budget. According to the insurers’ websites as at October 2026, Barmenia’s tariff with a €500 annual budget costs from €9 a month at age 30, while Signal Iduna charges adults up to 34 from €10.59 a month for AmbulantSTARTpur and from €19.93 for AmbulantPLUSpur. The bigger the budget and the older you are, the more you pay. “Pur” tariffs build up no Alterungsrückstellungen (age-related reserves), so the premium rises in steps as you get older. I suggest adding up what you really spend each year on a Heilpraktiker (non-medical practitioner), check-ups and co-payments, and comparing it with the annual premium.