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The expat’s healthcare guide to Germany

To help get you started, we’ve put together a quick introduction guide to some of the basics to think about when trying to navigate healthcare in Germany.

Published: 10 April 2017 12:09 CEST
The expat’s healthcare guide to Germany
Photo: Studioclover/Depositphotos

Finding a doctor

You should figure out what doctor to go to before you actually need to see a doctor. Luckily this isn’t too hard – every doctor in Germany is listed in the local phone directory (Gelbe Seiten) under Ärzte, so this could be your starting point.

If you have an international health plan such as Cigna Global, your insurance company may be able to help you find a doctor who speaks your language – just get in touch with their 24/7 customer service.

Naturally you can also find a doctor online – multiple websites list doctors according to their location or their specialty. This website is searchable in English as well. If you do speak German, websites like DocInsider offer ratings and rankings by other patients. Often, however, the best references come from word of mouth – so just ask a friend, neighbor, or colleague.

Other good sources are the university clinics (Kliniken) in major cities that provide outpatient services in addition to hospitalization. These clinics are usually staffed by highly skilled doctors who often speak English. You could also contact your embassy or consulate for a list of doctors who speak English or your native language.

The opening hours at doctor’s offices vary greatly. Many offices are closed on Wednesday afternoons, so it’s best to call before you visit and make an appointment. 

Find out more about Cigna Global health insurance

Emergency care

If you need medical assistance outside of normal doctor office visiting hours, you have a couple of options.

If it’s not terribly urgent, but you still can’t wait until the doctor’s office opens, you can take advantage of the Ärztlicher Bereitschaftsdienst (Medical Emergency Service). This is a GP who is on call to handle emergencies after normal office hours. You can reach the service anywhere in Germany by dialing 116 117.4

You could also try calling your regular doctor. If they’re unavailable, the recording on their answering machine might give you the number of a nearby emergency doctor.

In more urgent scenarios, you look up the section called Ärztlicher Notdienst or Ärztlicher Bereitschaftsdienst  in your local newspaper. It lists all physicians on stand-by for emergency duty, numbers of emergency hotlines, and pharmacies with 24/7 service.

And if there’s not time for that, take a taxi to the nearest emergency room (Notaufnahme) or call 112 or 19222 for an ambulance.

Call ‘112’ for high emergency cases (think life-threatening cases) and call ‘116 117’ for all other emergencies. Both numbers work 24/7.

Specialist care

Most people have a Hausarzt or Allgemeinarzt (general doctor) as their family doctor, who will make referrals to a specialist if necessary. Most specialists require a referral, called an Überweisung, so don’t just call up any specialist and expect to receive an appointment out of the blue.

Pharmacies

Pharmacies (Apotheke) are often open as late as 8pm during the week, and may have earlier closing times on Saturdays. They are always closed on Sundays and public holidays, but there will always be at least one in each city/region that provides out-of- hours service. Look for a notice in the window of any pharmacy to find out which pharmacy is on duty, or alternatively, find the addresses in your local newspaper in the section “Apotheken-Notdienst” (pharmacy emergency service).

You can also find contact information on the pharmacy emergency service online.

Unlike in countries such as the USA or UK, large drugstore chains do not exist in Germany. In fact, a “drug store” in Germany (Drogerie) sells toiletries and other consumer items, but not medicines.

However, you can purchase over-the- counter basic medication, such as cough syrup, cold medicine, throat lozenges and nose spray at stores like Rossmann and dm (drogerie markt). 

You can only receive prescription medication if you have a written prescription from your doctor – the Medical Products Act in Germany is quite strict.

If you have private insurance and your prescriptions are covered, make sure to save a copy of the prescription and a stamp – this will allow you to be reimbursed. You pay for the medicine yourself in the first instance but just send the copy of the prescription and the payment receipt to your insurer and you’ll be reimbursed within a few weeks.

Insurance

Alright, so how do you pay for it all?

If you have German health insurance, your insurance company will give you a plastic ID card (Krankenversicherungskarte) which you need with you when you visit a doctor. This card contains a chip with your personal data, which the doctor’s secretary will screen on your first visit. Statutory health insurance accreditation (Kassenzulassung) means that costs will always be covered by the insurer.

Generally you have to figure out health insurance, and prove you’re covered, before you get a residence permit in Germany. Many people simply have the state health insurance, while others opt for private global health insurance such as Cigna Global. Hospitals in Germany can be quite expensive, so private health insurance can be a great net to fall back on.

If you are state-insured, the doctor will send his bill directly to your insurance company. If you have private insurance, you’ll usually pay the full price up front for both visits and prescriptions, and send the receipts to your insurer for reimbursement.

Note that some doctors only treat privately insured clients. Of course that’s not a problem if you already have an international health plan such as Cigna. But if you have state insurance, make sure you check this when making an appointment. Doctors who accept state payments generally display a sign – Kassenarzt or Alle Kassen in their office. If you’re treated by anyone other than a Kassenarzt, the state insurance system will not reimburse you.

All emergency expenses are automatically covered by your public health insurance in Germany. If you’re a member of public health insurance you don’t need to pay anything, whether you go to hospital or call the ambulance.

Things to keep in mind

Any time you go to a hospital or see a doctor, make sure to bring your health insurance card.

Make copies of your bills, for visits and surgeries, particularly if you have private insurance and need to send them off for reimbursement. Exactly how long you wait for reimbursement can vary but it’s usually one to three weeks.

Participating in a global private health insurance plan, like that offered by Cigna Global, who specialise in healthcare for expats, ensures you are covered at every level, while having maximum flexibility.

Find out more about Cigna Global health insurance

 
This article was produced by The Local Client Studio and sponsored by Cigna Global.
For members

HEALTH

How to find available therapists in Germany

It’s no secret that mental health care can be particularly tricky to access in Germany. Here are some helpful tips for anyone who is struggling to book an appointment for therapy.

Published: 23 April 2024 12:55 CEST
How to find available therapists in Germany

The process to find psychotherapy in Germany’s urban centres is arduous – licensed therapists often have impossibly long wait times, and private practices don’t accept public health insurance.

A major reason that public insurance funded mental health care is hard to find in Germany comes down to regulations. Specifically the ‘coverage plan’ (Bedarfsplanung) that basically limits the number of licences available for publicly insured therapists in a region.

Germany’s maddening bureaucracy probably won’t be fixed any time soon. So residents in need of therapy will need to find a way through the system as it is.

So here are a few helpful tips for finding therapists, as well as how publicly insured patients can have private practice therapy costs reimbursed.

Look for therapists enrolled at academies

You’ll probably have a better chance getting an appointment with therapists who are currently in training, because not everyone knows that this option exists.

You can search for “Akademie für Psychotherapie”, to find one in your location. The Berliner Akademie für Psychotherapie, is one in the capital city, for example.

If you arrange an appointment this way, you can expect to be connected with a grad student therapist in training who needs to complete their supervised practice hours. In this case, you would see your therapist as usual, and they will be going through your session with an experienced therapist afterward.

The main advantages to seeking a therapist in training is that it may be cheaper and you can probably more readily find an appointment. A potential disadvantage is that the therapist you’ll be seeing is less experienced. 

But according to a Stockholm University study, student therapists who receive regular feedback from supervisors may be just as effective as licensed therapists at treating patients.

How to get reimbursed for going to a private practice

As mentioned above, therapists covered by public health insurance are few and far between, especially in many urban centres, and therefore regularly come with long wait times. But for those willing to do battle with the bureaucracy, there is an option to have your costs reimbursed for seeing a private practice therapist.

Specifically, public insurance providers are obligated to provide full reimbursement of costs in the event of a “supply emergency”. 

Waiting times of more than three months are considered unreasonable. So generally, patients can claim a supply emergency if they have contacted several therapists, and none of them offered available appointments within that time frame.

But you’ll want to make sure that your process is properly documented so that you won’t be stuck with the out-of-pocket costs.

First, you’ll need to document your need for psychotherapy. To get this, make an appointment for a psychotherapeutic consultation with a practice in your area, and be sure to collect a written recommendation for treatment (a PTV 11 form). 

If you don’t know where to start with this, look to the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (Kassenärztliche Vereinigung) for a database of therapists. You can also call 116 117 or use the 116 117 App.

After you’ve got your PTV 11 certificate, you’ll need to document your futile search for a licensed therapist. To do this, contact at least three to five therapists that have public health insurance approval. Keep a list of the names of therapists you contacted, as well as dates and times of contact and how long the waiting list for treatment is. 

Additionally, you should try to arrange treatment through the aforementioned Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, and receive confirmation if it’s not possible. So you’ll need to call 116 117, or use the 116 117 App again. But this time go through the process to have them try to find you placement with a therapist. This should take a maximum of four weeks, but rarely happens.

Finally, if you have documented all of the above and have still not found a readily available therapist, then you can seek out a private practice. You’ll need to enroll as a self-paying patient initially, but then you can submit an application for an outpatient reimbursement (Kostenerstattungsverfahren) along with the previously collected certificates and proof of your search. Private practice therapists are usually familiar with this process, and may be able to help you with the application as well.

READ ALSO: What are the main reasons internationals in Germany turn to therapy?

Free phone consultations for students

Students in Berlin can also take advantage of a free 50-minute conversation with a therapist through StudierendenWERK.

For students elsewhere, it’s worth checking what kind of mental health support services your school offers. Many German universities offer mental health support to some extent, and if school counsellors can’t provide the care that you need, they may be able to offer helpful information about where such services are available in your area.

READ ALSO: Here’s how you can get mental health help in English in Germany

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