Company Health Insurance Definition: Your Comprehensive Guide for 2025
16 May 2025
7
Minutes
Katrin Straub
CEO at nextsure
Are you looking for ways to enhance the appeal of your company while promoting the health of your employees? Corporate health insurance (bKV) offers an excellent solution for this. This article explains the definition of corporate health insurance and shows you how to use this tool optimally.
The topic in brief and concise terms
The company health insurance (bKV) is an employer-funded additional insurance that provides employees with better health protection and increases the appeal of the employer.
Contributions to the company pension scheme can be tax-free and exempt from social security contributions as non-cash benefits, up to 50 euros per month per employee.
Important benefits for employees include access to private patient services, often without medical examinations and waiting periods.
What exactly is occupational health insurance?
The corporate health insurance definition describes a supplementary health insurance organized by the employer. It is concluded as a collective contract for the employees. This voluntary social benefit significantly enhances the attractiveness of the company. The employer usually covers the contributions, which are tax-deductible as business expenses. Employees often enjoy immediate protection without a medical examination. This makes the corporate health insurance a valuable component of personnel policy.
Maximising Benefits: The Advantage for Employers
Companies increase their attractiveness by up to 79 per cent with a company health insurance (bKV). This presents a clear competitive advantage in attracting skilled workers. Employee retention is strengthened and satisfaction is increased. Fewer sick days and higher productivity are often the outcome. Contributions can be claimed as business expenses for tax purposes. Administrative effort is usually low thanks to digital portals. A company pension scheme can usefully complement the bKV.
Employers benefit through:
Increasing employer attractiveness by over 50 per cent.
Reducing turnover rate by up to 50 per cent.
Improving the company's image as a socially responsible employer.
The ability to deduct contributions as business expenses.
Low administrative effort through digital management.
These advantages make the bKV a strategic investment in human capital.
More Health Protection: The Benefits for Employees
Employees gain access to benefits similar to those of a private patient through the bKV. This closes gaps in the statutory health insurance. Often, health checks and waiting periods are waived, allowing for immediate coverage. This is especially valuable for those with pre-existing conditions. Usually, the employer covers the contributions. Family members can often be insured at favourable rates.
The most common benefits include:
Coverage for dental prostheses and treatments.
Subsidies for visual aids such as glasses and contact lenses.
Benefits for practitioners of alternative medicine.
Better accommodation in hospitals, such as double rooms.
Faster specialist appointments through special services.
These additional benefits significantly enhance medical care.
Calculate costs: What do companies invest?
The costs of a company health insurance (bKV) vary depending on the scope of benefits and provider. Monthly contributions per employee are often between ten and 50 euros. Budget tariffs offer flexibility; here, an annual budget is available per employee. A budget of 600 euros annually can, for example, cost around 30 euros monthly. The expenses are tax-deductible as business expenses. Some providers allow a bKV with as few as three employees. The supplementary health insurance as a bKV is thus also interesting for smaller businesses.
Understand tax aspects: non-cash benefits and exemption limits
Contributions to occupational health insurance are often considered a benefit in kind for tax purposes. Up to an allowance of 50 euros per month per employee, these are exempt from tax and social contributions. The condition is that the employer is the policyholder and pays the contributions directly. If the value, including other benefits in kind, exceeds this 50-euro limit, the entire amount becomes taxable. A thorough review of the individual situation is therefore essential. Alternatively, there are models such as flat-rate taxation according to § 37b or § 40 of the German Income Tax Act. The health and care of employees are thus promoted in a tax-optimised way.
There are various taxation models if the benefit in kind allowance is exceeded:
Net wage taxation: The employer covers all taxes and social contributions.
Individual taxation: The occupational health insurance contribution is added to the gross wage.
Flat-rate taxation according to § 40 para. 1 of the German Income Tax Act: An average tax rate is applied.
Flat-rate taxation according to § 37b of the German Income Tax Act: A flat rate of 30 percent is levied.
The choice of model should be coordinated with a tax advisor.
Mastering legal frameworks and contract drafting
The bKV is based on a group insurance contract between employer and insurer. The employer is the policyholder, and the employees are the insured persons. The General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) must be considered in its design. Excluding certain groups of employees (e.g., mini-jobbers) can be legally problematic. The employer's commitment and the insurance contract must match. When an employee leaves, the bKV coverage usually ends with the employer. However, many insurers offer a private continuation without a new health examination. A daily sickness allowance insurance can also be part of the bKV.
Practical examples: How companies successfully implement the company health insurance
A company uses the company health insurance (bKV) to differentiate itself in the job market and offers different service packages. A craft business uses the bKV to reduce downtimes. Faster specialist appointments are an important component here. Even small businesses with as few as five employees can implement a bKV. The flexibility of the tariffs, such as budget or modular models, allows for tailored solutions. The private health insurance can be supplemented with bKV modules.
Typical service modules in practice include:
Dentures (e.g., 70 to 90 percent reimbursement).
Visual aids (e.g., up to 300 euros per year).
Preventive check-ups (e.g., extended cancer screenings).
Alternative healing methods (e.g., osteopathy).
Inpatient additional services (e.g., single or double rooms).
Foreign travel health insurance.
These examples demonstrate the diverse applications of bKV.
Expert tips for the optimal design of your bKV
Your next step towards corporate health insurance
More useful links
Wikipedia provides a comprehensive overview of company health insurance.
The Association of Private Health Insurance (PKV) explains its position on company health insurance.
A press release from the Association of Private Health Insurance (PKV) highlights the success of company health insurance as a model for better care and provision.
The Federal Ministry of Health provides information on corporate health promotion.
The GKV Central Association offers details on prevention and corporate health promotion.
Destatis, the Federal Statistical Office, provides data on health insurance coverage.
Haufe offers an article on corporate health insurance in the context of employment law.
The topic page of Haufe summarises comprehensive information on company health insurance.
FAQ
Who is the policyholder in corporate health insurance?
The policyholder in corporate health insurance is usually the employer. The employees are the insured persons.
Can family members be included in the supplementary health insurance?
Yes, many bKV models allow family members to be included at reduced rates, often with an employee's own contribution.
What happens to the bKV when changing employers?
With a change of employer, the insurance coverage through the former employer ends. However, many insurers offer the possibility to continue the policy privately, often without a renewed health check.
Is there a health check for the supplemental health insurance?
A major advantage of group health insurance is that employees often either don't require a health check or only a greatly simplified one to join the group contract, and there are usually no waiting periods.
From how many employees is a company health insurance possible?
Some providers allow the establishment of company health insurance for small businesses with as few as three or five employees.
What services can a company health insurance include?
Typical benefits include allowances for dental prostheses, visual aids, preventive check-ups, alternative healing methods, improved hospital accommodation, or even a <a href="/solutions/subsolutions/krankentagegeldversicherung">daily allowance insurance</a>.
