In 2024, the average additional contribution of statutory health insurance companies will increase from 1.6 to 1.7 percent of their income. But not all health insurance funds have become more expensive: three have even reduced their contributions and around half of the generally accessible health insurance funds have not changed them. This also applies to the four Finanztip recommendations from 2023 (HKK, TK, HEK and Energie-BKK), which the money guide will also recommend to you in 2024, along with two new additions.

Big differences in the additional contribution: Save 100 euros and more

So on average, there isn't much change. However, the differences in the additional contribution remain large: depending on the fund, it ranges between 0.9 and 2.7 percent. You can also see this in Finanztip's summary of the new additional contributions from all health insurance companies. Depending on what fund you're with and how much you earn, you can still save a lot by switching.

Let's say you earn 4,100 euros gross per month and currently pay an average additional contribution of 1.7 percent. You will then save 197 euros per year in contributions if you switch to the national fund with the lowest additional contribution (BKK Firmus; 0.9 percent). If you opt for the cheapest cash register in our recommendations (HKK; 0.98 percent), it is 177 euros. With Finanztip's health insurance calculator you can quickly calculate your personal savings potential yourself.

Important: You will not receive the full net amount. Because if your contribution goes down, less will be deducted from your taxes. In our salary example (Stkl. I, without children, without church taxes), there are still savings of 121 euros (changing to HKK) or 134 euros (changing to BKK Firmus) after taxes.

Think about the bonus program and additional benefits.

However, a low additional premium alone does not automatically make it a really good (and cheap) health insurance company. The BKK Firmus is one of: B. simply not among the recommendations of this year's Finanztip. In addition to aspects such as service and prevention, there are also other financial issues: If your health insurance has a good bonus program and also covers certain additional services (for example, teeth cleaning), you can get a lot of extra money. . And more quickly than with a smaller additional contribution.

Let's say you have a dental and cancer test once a year, get vaccinated, have good vital signs and are a member of a gym/sports club: then you will earn between 35 (HKK) and 130 euros (BIG direct) with (only our recommendations bonus programs are healthy) during the year; additional services are also included (e.g. reimbursement for dental cleaning).

Finanztip's recommendations can achieve this.

When choosing your health insurance company, you should also make sure their offer covers the services that are important to you. So that you don't have to check it out yourself, Finanztip evaluated the national health insurance companies again this year according to 33 criteria in eight areas (e.g. additional contributions, services and pensions) in its large health insurance comparison . You can read all the important details about the price-performance winners in Finanztip's great health insurance comparison.

Have you found a suitable cash register? If you have been with your current fund for more than twelve months, you can cancel at any time with two months' notice at the end of the month. If you are there for a shorter period of time, you will only be able to do so by special notice if your fund has increased the additional contribution in 2024. You have until the end of January to do this.

In both cases you don't need to cancel, just sign up for a new fund and they will do everything for you. You just need to inform your employer.