# Consultant; Pre-existing Health Condition



## catrading

Hello. I am planning to set up a self-employed consultant business. I do not have a residence permit to live in Europe, and since I have a pre-existing health condition, I am being told by the private insurance companies that my condition will not be covered. I am willing to live and claim all my income in Germany and have it be fully taxed, but I am not able to do so, because obtaining a residence permit is contingent on having health insurance coverage. I know that one option could be to get an expat health insurance policy, but it seems all this will cover is something catastrophic but not routine day to day health coverage. Is my understanding correct?


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## vronchen

catrading said:


> Hello. I am planning to set up a self-employed consultant business. I do not have a residence permit to live in Europe, and since I have a pre-existing health condition, I am being told by the private insurance companies that my condition will not be covered. I am willing to live and claim all my income in Germany and have it be fully taxed, but I am not able to do so, because obtaining a residence permit is contingent on having health insurance coverage. I know that one option could be to get an expat health insurance policy, but it seems all this will cover is something catastrophic but not routine day to day health coverage. Is my understanding correct?


i had an expat health insurance in addition to my US health insurance while I was in the US because US health insurances are crappy by german standards. it does pay day to day medical stuff and not only something catastrophic. take a look at hansemerkur (Versicherung für ausländische Gäste bis 1 Jahr).


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## Bevdeforges

Another option is to look into the expat health coverage offered through AARO, a US expat association based in Paris. AARO?s Health Care Program for Expatriate America

You need to be a member of AARO to take out the health coverage, but it is designed to meet the requirements of most visas. There are also other advantages of AARO membership that may be of interest to you.
Cheers,
Bev


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## beppi

Any residence permit is indeed contingent on having a health insurance - but only one from a GERMAN provider, following the German rules will work!
If you cannot join the public health insurance scheme (which would would charge depending on income between €300 and €700/month, regardless of pre-existing conditions, and is in most regards the best solution), there are literally hundreds of private insurers you could contact. Some of them might take you with a "risk remium" for your condition, some might take you excluding any treatment for the condition (which then you'd have to pay yourself), and all HAVE TO (by law!) accept you into the "Basistarif" which covers everything in the same way as the public system and costs around €700/month.
The rules, especially about who can join the public system, are extremely complicated and there is no authority to explain it or help you achieve your rights, so you have to get it on your own.

Remark: The above rates are for self-employed. Employees pay half of this, the employer the other half, and different rates apply for certain people (e.g. unemployed, students, retirees).


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## catrading

I really am lost on this, since I wasn't expecting to pay such an exorbitant amount for health coverage. I understand that I will need to get some insignificant coverage that will exclude my condition to qualify for residence permit and begin my self-employment. Thank you again to all for your replies. I am curious - are all EU states similar? I read that Spain has similar rules. I'm curious if all of EU is like this for those that want to take up residence for self=employment. Yes?


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