Young, healthy, high salary: For those who meet these criteria, private health insurance (PKV) is very attractive at first glance.
It promises better protection, and at the same time you can save several hundred euros a month.
However, at the latest in old age it becomes significantly more expensive.
Insurers do set up retirement provisions to cushion particularly dramatic increases in retirement age, but these are not enough to keep premiums constant over the decades.
This is particularly bitter for employees because the employer pays half of the premiums - but only up to a limit of 368 euros.
In retirement this often causes problems: If the insured have not made sufficient financial provisions, private health insurance can become a cost trap for them.
For some, switching to statutory health insurance is the only hope.
WELT presents seven ways in which a return to the legal system can be achieved.