The caveat of this caveat is that if you're employed and you choose to go private and you stay private for 5 years, you won't be able to switch back to public.

The caveat of this caveat is that if you're employed and you choose to go private and you stay private for 5 years, you won't be able to switch back to public. Exceptions being if you're under 55 and earn less than the limit amount (something like 65k EUR roughly) or if you earn under 450 euro per month (the so-called mini job). If you're older than 55, you're f'ed, good luck with your private insurance in old age, 'case you're not allowed to go public. They've taken this measure because people were using private insurance for long stretches and then switched to public as they were reaching retirement, straining a system they haven't contributed to