Guide
Doctor visit cost in Germany
By Covered Abroad Research Desk · Last verified July 2026
Statutory insurance: no bill at the practice
The Ministry of Health sets out how a GKV doctor visit is paid. Services defined in the uniform fee schedule (EBM) are financed by statutory health insurance and provided to the insured as a benefit in kind, and it states that a co-payment or a practice fee does not apply to medical treatment.
The doctor does not bill your Krankenkasse directly either. The Ministry explains that practices bill the services through their regional Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KV).
Source: Bundesgesundheitsministerium: Vergütung ambulanter ärztlicher Behandlungen, read 16 October 2026.
Private patients: the GOÄ fee scale
If you are privately insured, or uninsured, the doctor bills you under the Gebührenordnung für Ärzte (GOÄ). The ordinance works on points:
- Item 1, a consultation, including by telephone, is worth 80 points.
- The point value is 5.82873 cents; points multiplied by the point value give the single rate.
- Fees normally run from 1 to 2.3 times that rate, and going above 2.3 is only allowed where the difficulty, time or circumstances of the case justify it. The overall frame for personal medical services runs to 3.5 times.
So a private bill is not a flat price: the same consultation can be billed at different multipliers.
Source: gesetze-im-internet.de: Gebührenordnung für Ärzte (GOÄ), 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 policyFee agreements, and the emergency exception
The GOÄ allows a doctor and a private patient to agree a different fee level in writing, after a personal discussion and before treatment. It sets limits on that: the points and the point value cannot be changed, and emergency and acute pain treatment may not be made conditional on such an agreement.
Source: gesetze-im-internet.de: Gebührenordnung für Ärzte (GOÄ), read 16 October 2026.
Where private cover fits
Private international health cover is one way to pay for care outside the public system, and what any policy reimburses is set by its benefit schedule and wording, not by a general guide. Regency's international health plans accept new applicants up to age 70, and Essential Health up to 80; pre-existing conditions are excluded. We are an insurance introducer, not an insurer.