Beitragsbemessungsgrenze (BBG)

What is the Beitragsbemessungsgrenze?

The Beitragsbemessungsgrenze — literally “contribution-assessment ceiling” — is the income limit used to calculate contributions to Germany's public health insurance (GKV) and long-term care insurance (Pflegeversicherung). Any income you earn above the BBG is ignored by the calculation; you do not pay GKV or Pflege contributions on it.

For 2026 the BBG for health and care is €69,750 gross per year, or €5,812.50 per month. The figure is set each autumn by the Sozialversicherungs-Rechengrößenverordnung and applies for the following calendar year. It rises roughly 2-4% annually.

Note: this entry covers only the BBG for health and care insurance — the figure relevant for private health insurance (PKV) advice. Germany has separate BBGs for pensions and unemployment insurance, which move on different tracks.

Why the BBG matters — even if you never look at it

For most employees the BBG is invisible. Payroll just applies the correct contributions and you see the net result on your payslip. But once your income crosses the BBG, two things change:

• Your GKV contribution stops rising. A salary of €80,000 and a salary of €120,000 pay the same GKV contribution — both are calculated on €69,750.

• If you are in the PKV, your employer subsidy is capped. The employer subsidy is set at half of the hypothetical GKV contribution at the BBG — €613.22 per month in 2026.

The GKV maximum contribution in 2026

Applied to the 2026 BBG of €5,812.50 per month, “full-rate” GKV looks like this:

• KV contribution total: €1,017.19 per month (17.5% — 14.6% base plus the 2.9% average Zusatzbeitrag). Split 50/50 between employee and employer: €508.59 each.

• Pflege contribution with children: €209.25 per month (3.6%), split 50/50.

• Childless surcharge from age 23: +€34.88 per month, paid by the employee alone.

Combined maximum for a childless full-payer: €1,261.31 per month. With children: €1,226.44 per month.

This is the single figure that matters when comparing GKV and PKV at the top of the pay scale. Above the BBG, GKV contributions stop growing — but the PKV premium continues to depend on age, health, and tariff, not on income.

BBG vs. JAEG — two different numbers

Online articles often mix the two up. They measure different things:

• BBG (€69,750 in 2026) — the contribution ceiling inside the GKV. Answers: how much of my salary is used to calculate my GKV contribution?

• JAEG (€77,400 in 2026) — the access threshold for the PKV. Answers: am I allowed to switch to private?

The JAEG is always higher than the BBG — a deliberate design choice. The gap between the two (currently around €7,650) is sometimes called the Entscheidungszone — the bracket where you cannot yet switch to PKV, but you are already paying the GKV maximum contribution.

What the BBG means if you are in the PKV

Even after you have switched to private insurance, the BBG still shapes your finances. The employer subsidy to your PKV contributions is calculated as half of the hypothetical GKV contribution at the BBG — €508.59 for KV plus €104.63 for Pflege, so €613.22 per month in 2026.

In practice this means:

• If your PKV contribution is below €1,226.44 per month (€613.22 × 2), your employer splits it with you roughly evenly.

• If your PKV contribution is above that figure, the employer subsidy stays pinned at €613.22. You pay the rest alone.

For younger employees on standard tariffs, the subsidy typically covers close to half of the premium. For older entrants on premium tariffs the cap starts to bite.

Historical development

Combined GKV maximum contribution (KV + Pflege, childless full-payer):

• 2021: €890.63 per month

• 2025: €1,174.16 per month

• 2026: €1,261.31 per month

Average growth 2021-2026: ca. +6.9% per year. A quiet fact in the German health-insurance debate: GKV cost growth at the top of the scale has matched, and in several years exceeded, private-insurance premium growth. “The GKV is stable, the PKV keeps getting more expensive” is not what the numbers above the BBG show.