- Updated:
- 05.10.2026
From 2027 Germany is once again raising the ceilings up to which social security contributions are charged. The draft ordinance has already been published; approval is still pending. This time the health insurance ceiling rises more than usual: on top of the wage-based indexation, the law adds another 300 € a month.
I look at what exactly changes, what it means in euros for employees and for the self-employed, how it affects switching to PKV (private health insurance) and which other changes are coming from 1 January 2027 – in taxes, family insurance and minijobs.
New limits for 2027
The Beitragsbemessungsgrenze is the income cap on which contributions are calculated. Anything above it is free of contributions. So when the cap rises, only those who earn more than the old limit pay more.
| Limit | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Beitragsbemessungsgrenze GKV (statutory health insurance), per month | 5.812,50 € | 6.375 € |
| Beitragsbemessungsgrenze GKV, per year | 69.750 € | 76.500 € |
| Beitragsbemessungsgrenze Pflegeversicherung (long-term care insurance), per month | 5.812,50 € | 6.075 € |
| Beitragsbemessungsgrenze Rente and ALV (pension and unemployment insurance), per month | 8.450 € | 8.850 € |
| Compulsory GKV threshold (Versicherungspflichtgrenze), per year | 77.400 € | 84.150 € |
| The same threshold for those already in PKV at the end of 2026 | 77.400 € | 80.550 € |
| Bezugsgröße (social security reference value), per month | 3.955 € | 4.130 € |
The 2027 figures come from the Labour Ministry’s draft ordinance (Referentenentwurf der Sozialversicherungs-Rechengrößenverordnung 2027) of 21 September 2026. The government and the Bundesrat still have to approve it. The calculation follows the statutory formula: the limits rise in line with average wages, which grew by 4,38 % in 2025. The extra 300 € a month on the GKV ceiling and on the compulsory insurance threshold is already set in law – the GKV-Beitragssatzstabilisierungsgesetz.
A separate word on Pflegeversicherung. By law its ceiling is tied to a different threshold, and the 300 € supplement does not apply to it: in 2027 it will be 6075 €, not 6375 € as in GKV. In its draft Pflege reform, the Ministry of Health proposes raising it to the level of the compulsory insurance threshold – 7012,50 € a month. The government has not yet approved this draft.
How contributions work in general – social security contributions in Germany.
What it means in euros – for employees
With gross pay above the new ceiling of 6375 € a month, the employee’s share of GKV and Pflege rises by about 55 € a month. The exact amount depends on the Zusatzbeitrag (additional contribution) of your Krankenkasse (statutory health insurer), on Pflegeversicherung and on whether you have children.
In Rentenversicherung (statutory pension insurance) the employee pays 9,3 % of gross pay, in unemployment insurance 1,3 %. With a salary above 8850 €, that means an extra 37,20 € a month for pension insurance and 5,20 € for ALV.
In total, deductions for high earners rise by about 98 € a month, or 1173 € a year. And the employer carries the same burden.
| Gross per month | Employee contributions 2026 | 2027 | Difference per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.500 € | 963,00 € | 963,00 € | 0 € | 0 € |
| 6.000 € | 1.263,75 € | 1.284,00 € | +20,25 € | +243 € |
| 7.000 € | 1.369,75 € | 1.425,10 € | +55,35 € | +664 € |
| 8.600 € | 1.523,45 € | 1.594,70 € | +71,25 € | +855 € |
| 9000 € and above | 1.523,45 € | 1.621,20 € | +97,75 € | +1.173 € |
Model calculation: employee share of GKV, Pflege, Rente and ALV. Assumptions – Zusatzbeitrag 3,4 %, Pflege 3,6 % (the employee pays 1,8 %, with children), Rentenversicherung 18,6 %, ALV 2,6 %; taxes not included. Childless people pay 0,6 percentage points more for Pflege – with income above the ceilings their increase is about 99 € a month. If the Pflege reform passes as proposed, the increase grows to 115 € a month.
Up to 5812,50 € a month, the higher ceilings do not affect you. But your contributions can still rise – if your Krankenkasse raises its Zusatzbeitrag.
Self-employed in GKV: no employer, you pay it all yourself
It gets even more fun here, because no employer pays half. Self-employed people who pay the maximum contribution calculate it on the full new ceiling – 6375 € a month.
Without entitlement to Krankengeld (sickness benefit) the GKV rate is 14,0 % plus Zusatzbeitrag, with it 14,6 % plus Zusatzbeitrag. Together with Pflege, the maximum contribution rises from about 1221 to 1328 € a month. That is roughly another 107 € a month, or 1288 € a year.
| GKV and Pflege contribution | 2026 | 2027 | Difference per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum, without Krankengeld | 1.220,63 € | 1.327,95 € | +107,32 € | +1.288 € |
| Maximum, with Krankengeld | 1.255,50 € | 1.366,20 € | +110,70 € | +1.328 € |
| Minimum | 276,85 € | 289,10 € | +12,25 € | +147 € |
The minimum contribution is calculated on a notional income – a third of the Bezugsgröße: 1318,33 € in 2026 and 1376,67 € in 2027 (§ 240 Abs. 4 SGB V). Even if the business earns next to nothing, the Krankenkasse will not take less.
Model calculation: Zusatzbeitrag 3,4 %, Pflege 3,6 % with children. For childless people, the maximum contribution without Krankengeld comes to 1364,40 € in 2027. If the Pflege reform passes as proposed, the maximum contribution rises even more – by about 141 € a month compared with 2026.
So it looks like a small indexation, but in practice it is another hundred euros out of your pocket every month.
How much more you will pay in 2027
Monthly contributions: 2026 → 2027
Employees – employee share
For employees, the employer pays the same again
Self-employed in GKV
Model calculation · Zusatzbeitrag 3,4 %, Pflege 3,6 %, Rente 18,6 %, ALV 2,6 % · 2027 limits per the draft ordinance
PKV: getting in becomes harder
Here a different important threshold goes up – the income at which an employee can leave compulsory GKV. It is currently 77400 € a year, from 2027 it will be 84150 €. So getting into PKV becomes even harder.
For those who on 31 December 2026 are already exempt from compulsory insurance and privately insured, the threshold rises only by the indexation – to €80,550 (new § 6 Abs. 8 SGB V). So anyone with an income above €80,550 but below €84,150 had to decide by 30 September 2026.
Why 30 September exactly. Cancelling membership of a Krankenkasse takes effect at the end of the second month after the month in which you give notice (§ 175 Abs. 4 SGB V). Notice in September – membership ends on 30 November and private cover starts on 1 December: on 31 December you are already in PKV, and the 80550 € threshold applies to you. Notice in October only takes effect on 31 December – on the cut-off date you are still in the Krankenkasse. This is not a statutory deadline, but the last month in which the arithmetic works.
Important: this route is only open to those who are already exempt from compulsory insurance and are voluntary members of their Krankenkasse. If you are compulsorily insured, you cannot cancel – switching is only possible if your income exceeds the threshold for both the current and the following year (§ 6 Abs. 4 SGB V). With the threshold rising to 84150 €, this route closes for many.
The PKV premium itself does not depend on the Beitragsbemessungsgrenze – it is based on age, health and tariff. But the maximum employer subsidy towards private cover rises with the ceiling: with an average Zusatzbeitrag of 2,9 %, from about 613 to 667 € a month for health insurance and Pflege together. The average Zusatzbeitrag for 2027 will be announced in the autumn.
Family insurance and minijobs: the limits go up
The income limit for free family insurance, Familienversicherung, is tied to the Bezugsgröße – it is one seventh of its monthly value (§ 10 Abs. 1 SGB V). In 2027 it rises from 565 to 590 € a month. It covers, for example, income from small-scale self-employment, rent and capital.
For minijobs the law has its own rule: a family member may earn up to the minijob limit. It rises with the minimum wage: from 1 January 2027 the Mindestlohn is 14,60 € an hour and the minijob limit is 633 € a month instead of 603 €.
For employers, minijobs are getting more expensive. From 2027 the GKV contribution for a minijobber is the general rate of 14,6 % plus the average Zusatzbeitrag instead of 13 % – this is already law. In drafts that have not yet been adopted: a flat-rate minijob tax of 5 % instead of 2 % and an employer contribution to Pflege of 3,6 %.
And from 2028, a spouse in family insurance will cost a surcharge of 2,5 percentage points if there are no children under 12 in the family and no other exemption applies. In detail – the GKV reform explained.
Taxes from 2027: Grundfreibetrag (basic tax-free allowance) and more
- Grundfreibetrag: 12348 € → 12564 €, in 2028 – 12900 €
- Kinderfreibeträge (child tax allowances) per child: 9756 € → 10056 €, in 2028 – 10236 €
- Kindergeld (child benefit): 259 € → 267 € a month, in 2028 – 272 €
- Arbeitnehmer-Pauschbetrag (flat-rate allowance for work expenses): 1230 € → 1430 €
- The tax scale becomes gentler for middle incomes: with taxable income between 17800 and 70600 € a year the rate rises more slowly, and the 42 % rate starts at 70601 € instead of 69879 €
- For very high incomes: 45 % from 250000 € instead of 277826 €, plus a new 47 % rate from 280000 €
- Handwerkerleistungen – repairs and maintenance of your home by tradespeople: you can deduct 15 % of their labour costs (materials excluded) from your tax instead of 20 %, but no more than 900 € a year instead of 1200 €
- Sunday and public holiday bonuses stay tax-free up to an hourly wage of 75 € instead of 50 €
The draft is called Einkommensteuerreformgesetz 2027. What it means in practice – income tax for a single person under the basic table, without Soli (solidarity surcharge) and church tax:
| Taxable income per year | Tax 2026 | Tax 2027 under the draft | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30.000 € | 4.217 € | 4.172 € | −45 € |
| 50.000 € | 10.548 € | 10.482 € | −66 € |
| 70.000 € | 18.264 € | 18.159 € | −105 € |
| 100.000 € | 30.864 € | 30.758 € | −106 € |
Model calculation using the draft’s formulas. An employee whose work-related expenses are below 1430 € a year also gains from the higher Pauschbetrag – up to 84 € a year.
For comparison: with income above the ceilings, contributions rise by almost 1200 € a year, while income tax under the new tax scale falls by at most 106 €. Part of the higher contributions comes back through the deduction of Vorsorgeaufwendungen (deductible insurance and pension contributions), but not all of it. How the tax itself works – income tax in Germany.
What else changes from 1 January 2027
- Mindestlohn – 14,60 € an hour instead of 13,90 €
- The Altersvorsorgedepot starts – a new state-subsidised private pension instead of new Riester contracts; the law has been passed
- Frühstartrente – 10 € a month into a pension account for children aged 6 to 18; the government has approved the bill, the start is planned for 2027
- GKV: higher Zuzahlungen (co-payments) at the pharmacy, 7,50–15 € instead of 5–10 €; lower Festzuschuss (fixed subsidy) for Zahnersatz (dental prosthetics), 50 % instead of 60 % – this is already law
- Rentenversicherung: according to the government forecast the rate stays at 18,6 %, it will be finalised in the autumn
- Pflege: under the draft reform the surcharge for childless people rises from 0,6 to 0,7 percentage points; the government has not yet approved the draft
- The Health Ministry will announce the average GKV Zusatzbeitrag for 2027 in the autumn, after the financial estimate in October
How the new pension depot works – Altersvorsorgedepot from 2027. On start-up capital for children – Frühstartrente.
Indexation is needed. But only at the expense of working people?
Unfortunately, yes, indexation is objectively necessary: the population is ageing and the costs of the social system are rising. But endlessly solving the problem only by raising the burden on working people and businesses is a very questionable strategy. The consequences are predictable:
- companies will cut staff;
- expensive specialists will be hired more cautiously;
- more work will move into the grey economy;
- people and businesses will leave Germany.
I would like to see not only new ceilings and contributions, but also less bureaucracy, more incentives for investment, support for start-ups and real economic growth.
What do you think of this logic of reform? Will these changes affect you personally?
What you can do now
Take another look at your Krankenkasse. Sometimes GKV costs can be cut with a cheaper Zusatzbeitrag. Among the options I most often suggest to clients is one of the cheapest Krankenkassen, BKK firmus: in 2026 its Zusatzbeitrag is 2,18 %, against an average of 2,9 %.
A second option – Techniker Krankenkasse.
And if your income allows you to switch to PKV, it is worth at least working out whether it pays off in your situation – taking into account your age, family and plans.
Frequently asked questions
On 1 January 2027. The figures come from the Labour Ministry’s draft ordinance of 21 September 2026; the government and the Bundesrat still have to approve it. The extra 300 € a month on the GKV ceiling and the compulsory insurance threshold is already set in law (BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 228).
The higher ceilings do not: your contributions are already calculated on your whole salary. But if your Krankenkasse raises its Zusatzbeitrag, contributions go up for all its members. The average Zusatzbeitrag for 2027 will be announced in the autumn.
For 2027, not by this route any more. For the €80,550 threshold to apply to you, you need to be in PKV on 31 December 2026, and for that, notice to leave your Krankenkasse had to be given by the end of September (membership ending on 30 November). Notice given in October only takes effect on 31 December. If you are compulsorily insured, you cannot leave your Krankenkasse for PKV.
The maximum GKV and Pflege contribution without Krankengeld entitlement rises from about 1221 to 1328 € a month, the minimum from 276,85 to 289,10 €. This is a model calculation with a Zusatzbeitrag of 3,4 % and Pflege at 3,6 %.
No. The government approved the draft on 2 September 2026: 12564 € for 2027 and 12900 € for 2028. The Bundestag and Bundesrat have not yet passed the law – until then the 2026 Grundfreibetrag of 12348 € applies.
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