Customised package of Blocked Account and Health Insurance for your stay in Germany

To prevent that you must pay the costs of medical care or medications privately in case of illness or an accident, in Germany it is mandatory to have health insurance – especially for international students who are otherwise not allowed to enrol at a university.

The health insurance system in Germany is one of the most effective worldwide. The system is based on two types of health insurances – the statutory (or governmental) health insurance and private health insurance. Whereas the governmental health insurance is accessible for everyone, certain conditions apply for private health insurance.

Since citizens from outside of the EU member states are not able to remain insured in their home country’s health insurance, they need to cover themselves with German health insurance.

In general, the public health insurance contribution is based on the income of the policy holder. However, for (international) students, all public health insurance providers in Germany must offer an affordable tariff for students up to 30 years of age or until the end of their 14^th semester of studies.

The public insurance contribution for international students is the same for all health insurance companies. On top of that, there is an individual additional contribution to the respective health insurance company.

Since the normal tariff of public health insurance providers is significantly higher than the student tariff, it may, therefore, be a better solution for someone who is older than 30 years or has already completed the 14^th subject-related semester to take out private health insurance.

Within our Fintiba Plus package, we will automatically evaluate which option would suit you best.

In general, there is a certain group of people who are often privately insured. Employees whose gross income is above the income threshold for compulsory insurance, public servants, self-employed persons and freelancers. In contrast to the governmental health insurance, the contributions are not calculated by the income but depending on the state of health, age and scope of benefits. Therefore, you will have to give detailed information on your state of health so that the company can individually adapt the insurance coverage and the tariff. For international guests in Germany, the private health insurance companies often offer special rates which are adapted to the needs and length of the stay.

However, as soon as you apply for private health insurance you will still need an exemption from the obligatory statutory health insurance when enrolling at university. After exemption, you will not be able to switch back to statutory health insurance.

It is important to notice that all treatment costs must be paid in advance by the policy holder. Afterwards, the private health insurance company will reimburse the costs upon submission of an invoice (cost reimbursement principle).

The insurance cover expires as soon as the policy holder returns to his or her home country.

According to German law § 5 paragraph 1 Nr. 9 Sentence 1 SGB V, all students are required to obtain health insurance with a public health insurance company. Consequently, you can only enrol when you have valid health insurance. An incoming/travel insurance cannot be accepted for the enrolment.

In case you can provide equivalent health insurance in all aspects of coverage from your home country that is valid here in Germany, you would still need to be exempt from the public health insurance before your enrolment at a German university.

Please be aware that an exemption from statutory health insurance in Germany will be a final decision that cannot be reversed for the whole duration of your stay.

Students who are attending a preparatory language course or for example a “Studienkolleg” also need health insurance. Since in their case, they are not yet enrolled in university and therefore not eligible for the statutory health insurance, private health insurance needs to be taken out.

Attention: International students who are privately insured in Germany but who are not yet 30 years old or have not yet completed their 14^th subject-related-semester often need a certificate of exemption from the statutory health insurance for enrolment in case they want to stay privately insured. A change to statutory health insurance within the study stay is no longer possible after that.

Within the Fintiba Plus package, we will change your insurance coverage from private to governmental automatically in case you are eligible for it. You don’t need to worry about anything!

Besides public (statutory) and private health insurance, Travel Insurance is a type of health insurance for incoming guests (students and many others) for their visit to Germany. Travel Insurance is important if you arrive in Germany prior to your actual enrolment date. This is because your statutory health insurance only protects you in case of illness from the date of your enrolment onwards. Meaning you will not be insured for the days or weeks in between your arrival date and the actual start of studies. Travel Insurance is a cheap and effective way to protect you against that risk.

The Fintiba Plus package always includes a “Blocked Account” to prove your sufficient financial means as well as “Travel Health Insurance”. These two aspects are a prerequisite to receiving a visa for Germany.

The Blocked Account is officially approved by the German Federal Foreign Office and therefore recognised worldwide. Fintiba is the most experienced blocked account provider and market leader for digital blocked accounts since January 2017. With customers from over 190 countries, we have excellent knowledge of all country-specific eventualities and can, therefore, guarantee the best customer support.

The Blocked Account can be opened completely online and within only a few minutes. You will get access to your personal Fintiba account where you can manage the required actions for the account opening. As soon as the account is successfully opened, you will be able to transfer money to the blocked account opened in your own name. Immediately after the money has arrived, the blocking confirmation for your visa appointment will be issued automatically.

For more information on the blocked account click here.

The Fintiba Plus package includes the “MAWISTA Visum” as travel insurance which is issued for a duration of 183 days. The health insurance is provided via our service partner MAWISTA and the coverage complies with the requirements of the council regulation (EC) no. 810/2009 of the European Parliament and Council as of 13.07.2009 and is unlimited. The health insurance protects you from the high costs of illness or accident during your stay.

Below, you can find the most important benefits of the travel health insurance which are included in the Fintiba Plus package:

✔ Outpatient treatment

✔ Inpatient treatment

✔ Medicines and dressings

✔ Pain-killing dental treatment and repairs of dentures and provisional measures up to € 250.00

✔ Transport costs to the nearest suitable hospital

✔ Funeral or repatriation costs (max. € 25,000.00)

✔ Repatriation to home country *

✔ Treatment of existing diseases until the insured person can be transported again after the insurance protection has expired, limited to 45 days

✔ Travel liability insurance

Depending on your needs, the Fintiba Plus package may include the “MAWISTA Student” as private health insurance. 

Below, you can find the most important benefits of the private health insurance which is included into the Fintiba Plus package:

✔ Outpatient treatment

✔ Inpatient treatment

✔ Medicines and dressings

✔ Aids-related to the accident (not including sight aids and max. € 250.00)

✔ Medical treatment (e.g. massage), up to 8 per insurance year

✔ Analgesic dental treatments, denture repairs and temporary solutions (max. € 500.00)

✔ Transport costs to the nearest suitable hospital

✔ Pregnancy, childbirth and their implications

✔ Funeral or repatriation costs (max. € 25,000.00)

✔ Repatriation to home country 

BARMER offers comprehensive health coverage, including necessary treatments, medications, and dental care. Members benefit from free preventive examinations and screenings, including skin checks and the “Check-up” for early disease detection.

They also provide free choice of doctors and hospitals, access to multilingual doctors through the BARMER Doctor Finder, and the BARMER Teledoktor app for digital consultations. Additionally, BARMER reimburses travel vaccination costs.

Digital services like CyberHealth offer free health and fitness videos for members to train at home.

The Fintiba Plus package includes a free Travel Health Insurance worth € 95.00. This also applies to customers whose package does not include governmental health insurance!

Students who are eligible for the public health insurance will be switched to BARMER from the day of their official enrolment. Students who have (interim) private health insurance included in the package will be switched over to MAWISTA Student after their arrival in Germany in order to align with the requirements for the residence permit.

Please note that the respective insurance conditions always apply.

In case your visa is rejected or in case you need to cancel your duration earlier than expected after you arrive in Germany, it is always possible to completely close your Fintiba Plus package. Depending on your specific situation, one of the following processes will apply:

• In case you are in your home country and your visa was rejected/you withdrew your visa application, or you did not even apply but want to cancel your trip to Germany, we will need an official confirmation from the German embassy or consulate which allows us to close your account and your Fintiba Plus package respectively.
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Note: In case of a visa denial, the visa rejection letter is a valid document to close your account. Afterwards, the reversal transfer will be executed to the original account where the money came from. Please note that the process can take 3-4 weeks until the money is in the account.

• In case you are already in Germany and want to cancel your stay for any reason, we will need an official document from the Foreigners Office (Ausländerbehörde) which allows us to close your blocked account. Afterwards, we will transfer the money back to the account it came from.
  
  

Note: If you are already legitimated, we will be able to transfer the money to your German current account too, depending on your instructions.

Upon successful closure of the account, both your Blocked Account and your Health Insurance products, depending on your package type, will be cancelled for you. Please be advised that the following documents CANNOT be accepted to close the Fintiba Plus package: de-registration letter (Abmeldebestätigung), border-crossing certificates (Grenzübertrittsbescheinigung), stamp in your passport when you re-enter your home country, declaration of commitment or self-created documents.

For more questions regarding the Fintiba Plus package, please check our Help Center.

In the following, you can find the differences between BARMER and other statutory health insurers.

BARMER covers many additional services not covered by other health insurance companies, such as:

• 100% coverage of the travel vaccinations
• free preventive examinations and screenings, such as our free comprehensive “Check-up” for the early detection of health risks, disease and exposure.
• free comprehensive Skin Check – available to BARMER members every two years up to the age of 34.
• with BARMER Doctor Finder you can find a doctor who speaks your preferred language
• digital services like CyberHealth offers free health and fitness videos for members to train at home