Healthcare & insurance in Berlin

Germany's healthcare is excellent and, once you're insured, mostly free at the point of use. The catch is that insurance is mandatory from day one, you need proof for your residence permit, and the public-versus-private choice you make early is one of the hardest to undo.

Public (GKV) vs private (PKV)

Most employees join public insurance (GKV): the premium is a percentage of gross salary, split with your employer, and it covers your non-working spouse and children for free. The funds (TK, AOK, Barmer…) are near-identical in coverage, so choose on service and English support, TK is the long-running expat favourite.

Private insurance (PKV) can be cheaper while you're young, healthy and high-earning, and gets you shorter waits and private rooms. But premiums climb steeply with age, each family member pays separately, and returning to public later is very difficult. For most people, public is the safe default.

If you're between jobs or still on a visa application, an expat policy (Feather, Care Concept and similar) bridges the gap and is accepted for the permit appointment, just don't treat it as a permanent substitute.

Finding a doctor

Your GP is your Hausarzt; specialists you can often book directly. Use Doctolib to filter for English-speaking practices and book online, Berlin has plenty. Bring your insurance card and Anmeldung to the first visit. Popular practices fill up, so register with a Hausarzt before you're sick, not during.

When it's urgent

• 112: ambulance and life-threatening emergencies
• 116117: the on-call medical service for urgent-but-not-emergency cases nights and weekends
• Notaufnahme: hospital A&E; Charité and Vivantes run the big ones
• Pharmacies (Apotheke) handle minor issues and there's always a rota of late-night ones (Notdienst)

Prescriptions and costs

With GKV, most prescriptions cost a small flat fee. Pharmacies are everywhere, identifiable by the red A sign. Dental and glasses are only partly covered, a supplementary policy (Zusatzversicherung) is worth it if you expect either.