Introduction
The voluntary health insurance is a legal form to complement the statutory health insurance (GKV) in Germany. Like the statutory health insurance, the private health insurance (PKV) is also mandatory in Germany. Before you decide on a private health insurance, you have to check if you are entitled to it by law. The private health insurance covers additional services for its members; these include dental care, eye exams and glasses, physiotherapy and alternative medicine therapies such as acupuncture or homeopathy. With a private health insurance, you get to choose your doctor who can be one of several specialists within the same hospital or clinic. You should never choose an unknown doctor just because he/she belongs to your preferred hospital network! However, with a private health insurance contract there is no waiting period before treatment begins like with statutory ones