4 ms·

I don't think that's a quirk. In Germany the public health insurance is based on your salary, but private insurance is not -- and independent contractors (such

by biztos 6y ago

I don't think that's a quirk. In Germany the public health insurance is based on your salary, but private insurance is not -- and independent contractors (such as everyone working for Gumroad) are required to use the private option. From the private insurer's point of view, it would be crazy to charge more or less based on how much someone works or earns. The public insurance does so out of a solidarity imperative coming from the government, and is subsidized as needed to make that possible. In the US, there is no public option. Feature working as designed, for better or worse.

valzam 6y ago
Contractors can buy the public option are actively discouraged from doing so because they are on the hook for both the employer and employee contribution. Also ofc there is the "if you have ever been privatly insured you cannot simply go back to public". But for contractors with 2-3 kids public might still be cheaper than private.
- socksy 6y ago
  It wouldn't have even occurred to me to switch over to private if I became self employed, just assumed you would price the employer contribution into the day rate. Is switching to private widely expected? I would've thought that Germans were more biased towards the social solution.
  - biztos 6y ago
    Indeed, my mistake. All the independents I know are in private even if they don’t earn that much, so I assumed it was required.
  - valzam 6y ago
    Since the day rate varies wildy I wouldn't say that you can't compete if you stay in the public system but your baseline cost will be 5-7% higher than someone who switched to private. Also private insurance is typically considered "better", at least wait times are often reduced. All of this being said I think the German private/public hybrid is pretty bad. Sure, they make it harder to go back to public when you get older but you can always accept a part-time job for a while and be "forced" to buy public.

by biztos 6y ago

valzam 6y ago

Contractors can buy the public option are actively discouraged from doing so because they are on the hook for both the employer and employee contribution. Also ofc there is the "if you have ever been privatly insured you cannot simply go back to public". But for contractors with 2-3 kids public might still be cheaper than private.

socksy 6y ago
It wouldn't have even occurred to me to switch over to private if I became self employed, just assumed you would price the employer contribution into the day rate. Is switching to private widely expected? I would've thought that Germans were more biased towards the social solution.
- biztos 6y ago
  Indeed, my mistake. All the independents I know are in private even if they don’t earn that much, so I assumed it was required.
- valzam 6y ago
  Since the day rate varies wildy I wouldn't say that you can't compete if you stay in the public system but your baseline cost will be 5-7% higher than someone who switched to private. Also private insurance is typically considered "better", at least wait times are often reduced. All of this being said I think the German private/public hybrid is pretty bad. Sure, they make it harder to go back to public when you get older but you can always accept a part-time job for a while and be "forced" to buy public.