Your Premium Continues During Elternzeit
Parental leave (Elternzeit) is a wonderful time, but it brings a financial wrinkle for privately insured parents: your private health insurance (private Krankenversicherung, PKV) premium continues throughout, even though your salary is paused. Unlike statutory insurance, where contributions can drop to zero during unpaid leave under family insurance rules, PKV premiums are based on your cover, not your income — so they keep running.
The key issue: during Elternzeit you usually stop receiving the employer subsidy (Arbeitgeberzuschuss), because it is tied to active employment income. So for the leave period, you may have to fund the full premium yourself.
What Happens to the Employer Subsidy
While you are actively employed, your employer pays roughly half your premium. During unpaid Elternzeit, that subsidy generally stops, because there is no salary to attach it to. This means your out-of-pocket premium can effectively double for the leave period — a cost worth planning for before the baby arrives. If you take partial parental leave and work part-time, a proportionate subsidy may continue; check with your employer.
| Situation | Employer subsidy | You pay |
|---|---|---|
| Active employment | ~50% of premium | ~50% |
| Full unpaid Elternzeit | Usually none | Full premium |
| Part-time during Elternzeit | Proportionate (check) | Remainder |
Options to Manage the Cost
You cannot avoid the premium, but you can manage it:
- Budget ahead — set aside funds before the leave, knowing the subsidy will pause
- Review your tariff — temporarily check whether any unused modules could be trimmed (carefully, as re-adding may need a health check)
- Use the tax deduction — premiums for basic cover remain deductible as Vorsorgeaufwendungen
- Plan the new baby's cover — arrange Kindernachversicherung within two months of birth for guaranteed acceptance without a health check
Insuring the Baby
An important overlap: your newborn can be added to your PKV without any health assessment via Kindernachversicherung, provided a parent has been insured for at least three months and you apply within two months of the birth. Factor the child's (modest) premium into your Elternzeit budget alongside your own continuing premium.
Plan Before the Leave
The practical message is simple: the premium does not pause, and the employer subsidy usually does. Knowing this in advance lets you budget so that parental leave is about your family, not financial surprises. If the full premium during leave is a strain, speak to your insurer and an adviser about temporary options before, not during, the leave.
Frequently Asked Questions
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