Persons with AOK cover are free to choose their doctor and hospital for themselves. Furthermore, outpatient GP and specialist care is provided primarily by solo and group practices.

In Germany, you do not have to take out separate medical insurance for your children if you're insured with AOK, because they are automatically covered via the free insurance for family members and will receive the same level of protection. You also won't need to pay separate contributions for them. Generally, your offspring are co-insured up to the end of their 18th year. And if your children are not working up to the end of their 23rd year, their co-insurance cover will even continue up to that point. If they’re still going to school or university, or in vocational training, the age limit is raised to 25. For all family members who would like to be included, income limits apply. The individual’s total monthly income may not exceed 470 euros. This also applies to children.

If your child is ill, you should consult your paediatrician. In Germany, you are entitled to time off work to care for sick children. To apply for this, you should submit to your regional AOK provider the so-called “child sickness certificate” that you have been given by your paediatrician.

A full-time self-employed person cannot be included in family insurance cover. You can, however, be included if you are self-employed on a part-time basis and support yourself primarily through another stream of income arising from activity that does not count as self-employment. To qualify for this, you must not be spending more than 20 hours per week working on a self-employed basis. 

In Europe, your AOK European Health Insurance Card makes it easy to obtain the medical services you need. Should you fall sick unexpectedly, AOK will, under certain specific conditions, cover your outpatient and inpatient healthcare throughout the EU as well as in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Details can be found here. (Information on this website is in German)

To contact emergency services, call 112. In Germany, the time between receipt of your emergency call and the arrival of emergency medical personnel at the location of the emergency should not exceed eight to 17 minutes (in rural areas). This emergency assistance is paid for in full by your medical insurance provider. You will only have to make a small additional co-payment of five to ten euros. If you have medical issues that are not acutely life-threatening but you are unable to reach your GP, the general medical call-out service (phone number: 116 117) will provide you with medical assistance.