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You need health insurance if, for example, you take up a job subject to social security contributions or receive unemployment benefits (“Bürgergeld”) (from 1st June 2022). You are then free to choose your health insurance fund. The health insurance fund you choose will issue you an insurance card which you can use to obtain services from doctors, therapists, hospitals or pharmacies.
You can also choose your health insurance fund if you receive welfare benefits – in other words you are neither employed nor receive unemployment benefits.
If you are not entitled to unemployment benefits (“Bürgergeld”) or welfare benefits due to your income or assets, you can take out voluntary insurance from 1st June 2022. To qualify for this voluntary insurance you must have a residence permit (“Aufenthaltserlaubnis”) or a temporary residence permit (“Fiktionsbescheinigung”). You have a period of 6 months to apply (calculated from when you arrive in Germany).
You are welcome to send us the application documents via post (BARMER, 42266 Wuppertal) or via email (service@barmer.de). If you communicate with us via email, the following information (in German) explains the general conditions of our email service.
Yes, if you possess a Barmer Health Insurance Card, you can choose which doctor to visit. We recommend you phone to make an appointment before seeing the doctor. If you have found a doctor's practice, but you would like to change to another, you can do so every three months in each case.
You can look up doctors by using the Barmer Doctor Finder. If you speak English, this service is also available in that language.
Video Як знайти лікаря у Німеччині? / How to find a doctor in Germany?
Generally speaking, you ought to first consult a family doctor. The family doctor (or specialist in general practice) if necessary arranges your transfer to a suitable specialist. Some specialists, such as gynaecologists or ophthalmologists, can be contacted directly if you have acute complaints.
There are many medical practices in Germany where Ukrainian refugees can seek psychological counselling. For example, you can use the Barmer physician search function to look specifically for doctors and psychotherapists who speak Ukrainian.
You can find further counselling offers via the victim protection portal of the state of North-Rhine Westphalia, for example.
Of course. The main emergency hotlines are in this case as follows:
Medical emergencies include the likes of acute breathing problems, acute chest or stomach pains, acute dizziness, an accident, or injury.
In case of danger to life and limb, all hospitals provide first-aid treatment.
To find a hospital, simply use Barmer Kliniksuche (hospital finder tool).
To receive prescription drugs, you need a doctor's prescription, allowing you to collect medication at a pharmacy. In Germany, we distinguish between over-the-counter, pharmacy-only, and prescription drugs:
Often, medical products carry different names in other countries, although they may be identical. Furthermore, it is not always possible to determine them if they are labelled in Cyrillic script.
If a prescription drug is not available in Germany, a doctor can help you transfer to equivalent medication.
For anyone who has been fully vaccinated with CoronaVac®, Covilo®, Covaxin® or SputnikV®, with or without a booster, an additional, single dose of an mRNA vaccine is recommended. The vaccine should be administered at least three months after the last vaccination. Anyone who has received a different foreign vaccine or has only had one dose of CoronaVac®, Covilo®, Covaxin® or SputnikV® must get a new, full vaccination plus booster.
Further information on the topic of COVID-19 (in German).
Get our FAQs also in german, ukrainian and russian.
The Federal Ministry of Health provides further information.
