I am going to start a postdoc fellowship at the University of Cologne in a couple of months. I’m trying to figure out health insurance for myself and my wife, who is moving with me. The university office for international scholars is telling me that I should get travel insurance through Mawista or HanseMerkur, because those satisfy local requirements for the residence permit. I’ve asked if I can get a comprehensive health insurance such as [IHC FlexMed](https://ihc-company.eu/wp/flexmed-global-impat-tariff/) and they’ve told me that that wouldn’t work for the local immigration office. However, we’re going to stay for 18 months and can’t rely on travel insurance. We’ll need to access specialists (neurologists, psychologists, etc) and get prescriptions filled regularly.

I’ve found this [webpage](https://www.th-koeln.de/en/international_office/health-insurance-for-internationals_82214.php) from the TH Köln Office for International Students that has the following information:

>Persons with pre-existing conditions have to prepare themselves for the fact that their pre-existing conditions are normally excluded from private health insurance in Germany. You yourself have to cover all costs resulting from treatment of a pre-existing condition. …
>
>It is recommended that persons with pre-existing conditions supply themselves with sufficient medications before they come to Germany as well as a doctor’s letter proving that it is necessary to import the medications into Germany. This helps you save money and avoid problems when you enter Germany.

This is crazy to me! How do they expect people to get enough medication for 18 months? Who can do that? And how does it make sense to prevent people from buying comprehensive health insurance?

Any advice on how to navigate this situation?

2 comments

  1. You will have an employer contract and so, you’ll be eligible for statuatory health insurance (AOK, TK are the public companies here). The travel insurance is only for the the first 3-6 months till all your legalities are sorted out. In fact, you’ll be required to enroll in statutory health insurance to continue living here.

    I don’t know exactly about what is the deal with private companies like you have shown. But if they are part or the German statuatory health insurance plans then they will definitely work.

    Public companies cannot refuse you for pre-existing conditions by the way.

  2. > The university office for international scholars is telling me that I should get travel insurance through Mawista or HanseMerkur

    Once again European universities mislead international students and staff. I must know a couple dozen of such cases by now and for the life of me I don’t understand why international offices intentionally give such destructive advice.

    OP, you should obviously get public health insurance, which is comprehensive and without any exclusions. They have, by law, to cover everything that’s medically necessary.

    You should also doubt everything the university tells you about legal matters, the rent market, insurances, and employment conditions. You’ll get better information here, rather from them. Even better, go straight to the statutory source of information, which is usually a government website.

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