BarmeniaGothaer Private Health Insurance: Financial Key Figures for Expats

This page summarises the published financial figures of Barmenia Krankenversicherung AG, the health insurer of the BarmeniaGothaer group, for expats who are comparing private health insurance in Germany. It reports what the insurer's own documents say. It is not a rating, a ranking or a recommendation for or against any insurer.

One point first: Barmenia and Gothaer are two separate health insurers in 2025, each with its own legal entity. The main figures below are for Barmenia Krankenversicherung AG. Gothaer Krankenversicherung AG has its own section further down. Do not add the two together.

Company profile and legal form

Barmenia Krankenversicherung AG is an Aktiengesellschaft (AG), a stock corporation. Private health insurers in Germany come in two main forms: the mutual (Versicherungsverein auf Gegenseitigkeit, a.G.), which belongs to its policyholders, and the AG, which has shareholders.

What this means for you in practice: as a policyholder of an AG you hold an insurance contract, not a membership. In both forms, part of the yearly surplus is normally passed on to policyholders through the premium refund reserve (Rückstellung für Beitragsrückerstattung, RfB, explained below). The legal form alone says little about the quality of a tariff, so look at the figures and at the tariff itself.

Key financial figures

All figures below are as reported by the insurer for the stated year. The last column shows the 2025 private health insurance market figure for context, where one exists.

Market figures: Debeka annual report 2025, column "Branche", p. 16 (ratios follow the industry association's key-figure catalogue). Figures are for the single insurance entity, checked on 16 October 2026.

What the figures mean

Solvency ratio

The solvency ratio compares an insurer's own funds with the capital that European rules (Solvency II) require it to hold against its risks, the SCR. A ratio of 421% means the reported own funds are about 4.2 times the required capital. The regulatory minimum is 100%. A higher number means a larger buffer. It is a snapshot for one year, not a forecast. The volatility adjustment is a regulatory adjustment to the discount rate; without it, the same report gives 414%. The 2024 figure of 448% was calculated without this adjustment, so the 2025 value with adjustment and the 2024 value are not directly comparable.

Ageing provisions

In private health insurance your premium is not raised every year in line with your age, although your expected costs rise as you get older. The insurer therefore saves part of every premium as ageing provisions (Alterungsrückstellung) to cover the higher costs later. The balance sheet item reported here, the Deckungsrückstellung, stood at about 14.6 billion euros in 2025, up from about 13.8 billion euros in 2024. These provisions are the reason premiums in old age do not simply follow your rising claims.

RfB ratio and the premium buffer

The RfB is a reserve funded from surplus. Insurers use it to pay refunds and, importantly, to cushion premium increases for existing policyholders. Barmenia reports an RfB ratio of 18.1%, against a market figure of 27.5%, and states that 96.4 million euros of RfB were used to limit and finance premium adjustments in 2025. A lower ratio does not by itself say anything about future premiums; the buffer is one input among several.

Cost, claims and investment ratios

The administrative and acquisition cost ratios show what share of premiums goes to running the business and to winning new customers. The claims ratio shows the share of premiums paid out for claims. The net investment return is what the insurer earned on its investments. The surplus usage ratio shows how much of the surplus was passed on to policyholders. Market figures are provided so you can see the figures in context, not to rank the insurer.

Premium adjustments

The Barmenia report does not give a Barmenia-specific average premium adjustment: not disclosed in the documents we reviewed. It describes the market instead. According to the 2025 report (p. 12), premium adjustments in 2025 averaged roughly 18% for about two-thirds of fully insured people across the industry. For 2026 it cites information from the industry association that premiums could be adjusted for around 60% of fully insured people, by an average of about 13% (p. 21). These are industry numbers, not Barmenia numbers.

The report also states that 96.4 million euros were taken from the RfB to limit and finance premium adjustments (p. 13). How adjustments work, and why they happen, is explained in our guide to premium increases in private health insurance.

Gothaer Krankenversicherung AG: key figures

Gothaer Krankenversicherung AG is the second health insurer in the BarmeniaGothaer group. It is also a stock corporation (AG) and publishes its own reports. Its figures are shown separately here and must not be added to Barmenia's.

On premium adjustments, the Gothaer report gives no Gothaer-specific average percentage (not disclosed in the documents we reviewed). It states that 44.0 million euros from the RfB were used to limit adjustments and to reduce premiums in old age (pp. 14, 17), and that high inflation in the health sector clearly affects its adjustment of 1 January 2026, which together with new business contributes significantly to premium growth (p. 23). For 2026 it cites the same industry estimate as Barmenia: premiums could be adjusted for about 60% of fully insured people, by an average of about 13% (p. 22).

Who it may suit as an expat

Whether this insurer suits you depends on your age, health, income status and the specific tariff, not on the figures above. For expats, the practical question is language and service. We could not verify English-language service for this insurer in the documents we reviewed, so ask the insurer, or an independent consultant, to confirm it in writing before you apply, including for claims and the app. Also check that the plan is full private health insurance (Vollversicherung) if you need it for a residence permit. See our guide to choosing a private insurer for the full checklist.

FAQ

Sources

Figures checked on 16 October 2026. They are taken from the insurer's own published reports and are reported as stated there. Always check the current documents.

• SFCR 2025 Barmenia Krankenversicherung AG (solvency ratio, p. 6, 62-63)
• Geschäftsbericht 2025 Barmenia Krankenversicherung AG (premiums, insured persons, provisions, ratios, pp. 2, 12, 13, 16, 21)
• SFCR 2025 Gothaer Krankenversicherung AG (solvency ratio, p. 6)
• Geschäftsbericht 2025 Gothaer Krankenversicherung AG (premiums, insured persons, provisions, ratios, premium adjustments, pp. 2, 13, 14, 16, 17, 22, 23)
• Market figures: Debeka Krankenversicherung annual report 2025, p. 16