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A comment on After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea. Parent comment

Re:After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea by kuschku on Monday January 29, 2018 @02:03AM (#16255837)
No. You can leave the public insurance system at any time, and get a private insurance.

But if you have ever done so, you can never return into the public system.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea by germanier on Monday January 29, 2018 @02:40AM (#16255998)
You cannot leave at "any time". To qualify, you need to have an income of over 59k € or be a freelancer. For most others (which is most of the population) private insurance is not possible.

You can however purchase additional insurance on top of the public one.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea by kuschku on Monday January 29, 2018 @03:23AM (#16256155)
Well, this is HN, a forum for mostly software engineers, so an income of over 59k€ should be expected.

You are right, though, if one considers the average citizen.

[ Parent | on HN ]