Guide
Ambulance cost in Germany: what you pay
By Covered Abroad Research Desk · Last verified July 2026
What statutory insurance covers
§ 60 SGB V obliges the health insurer to pay for journeys that are necessary for compelling medical reasons in connection with an insured service, with the vehicle chosen according to medical need in the individual case. Among the trips it covers above the co-payment are rescue trips to hospital, even when inpatient treatment is not needed, and journeys by ambulance or rescue vehicle when public transport, a taxi or a hire car cannot be used.
Source: gesetze-im-internet.de: § 60 SGB V, Fahrkosten, read 16 October 2026.
The co-payment
§ 61 sets the co-payment insured people make: 10% of the price, at least €5 and at most €10, but never more than the cost itself.
For rescue trips, § 60 adds a detail about who collects it: where the trip is carried out by a rescue service, the health insurer collects the co-payment from the insured person. In practice the bill you see comes from your Krankenkasse rather than from the ambulance service.
The Federal Ministry of Health adds that the co-payment on journeys also applies to children and adolescents.
Source: gesetze-im-internet.de: § 61 SGB V, Zuzahlungen, read 16 October 2026.
Source: gesetze-im-internet.de: § 60 SGB V, Fahrkosten, read 16 October 2026.
Source: Bundesgesundheitsministerium: Fahrkosten, read 16 October 2026.
60-second check
Not sure the policy you have meets your destination's written rule? Run it through the policy check now, before you build the rest of the file around it.
Check my policyNon-emergency transport needs approval
Trips to outpatient treatment are a different category. The Ministry states that insured people who do not meet the listed conditions must have such journeys approved by the health insurer in advance, with the same co-payment rules applying.
An ambulance you call in an emergency and a taxi to a regular appointment are not treated the same way, so check with your insurer before booking the second kind.
Source: Bundesgesundheitsministerium: Fahrkosten, read 16 October 2026.
Where private cover fits
On Regency's international health plans, local ambulance to hospital is listed as full cover on all four tiers and on Essential Health. International evacuation and repatriation is an optional add-on rather than part of the base plan, and air, sea and mountain rescue is always excluded. Pre-existing conditions are excluded, and what applies is whatever your policy wording says. We are an insurance introducer, not an insurer.