Health Insurance HELP

All residents of Germany MUST have compulsory health insurance.
There are two systems - public and private - with different pricing structure and very complicated rules about who must join which (most people cannot choose!).
You should go to a public insurance office ("gesetzliche Krankenversicherung" - there are several hundred of them) and get a consultation. You will be charged for your health coverage retroactively from the day you took residence in Germany, so don't wait!
IF you can choose, the differences are basically the following:
- The public system costs a percentage of your income and also covers dependent family members. The benefits are standardised and it's valid during trips only within Europe.
- The private system costs according to the risk you pose for the insurer - i.e. pre-existing conditions or old age costs more. The benefits are variable (read all fineprint!!!) and most plans are valid worldwide.
For a freelancer, the minimum charge in the public system is about €320/month. The private system can be cheaper, depending on the plan, your age and health status.
In both systems, coverage starts immediately with your arrival (no waiting period, in fact you can register retroactively) and pre-existing conditions are covered (at a surcharge in the private system).
Please note: Foreign health insurances and travel insurances do NOT fulfil the requirements - you still have to join the German system.

thanks so much for your detailed response.

I understand most of what you said.

I have been living here since August, and have actually been in contact with a company for over 6 weeks now trying to organise my health insurance, back and forth calls etc, then they thought they lost my forms, then they found my forms. To then rejecting me completely saying they cant offer me there service, because I'm doing freelance work, with no guarantee salary.

So now thats what im worried about that they will make me back pay, when as soon as i was registered i tried sorting this out and its still been going on.

So i think my best bet is to get private insurance because of my situation.

I dont know. Im trying to do it as fast as i can, but really am just so confused about it all.

The law is complicated, but strict: The insurers CANNOT legally reject insuring you!
(Of course in complicated case like yours they try to circumvent this by doing bad service and hoping you'd go away in frustration.)
My advise: Go to a public insurer and get a consultation - if they say you cannot join the public system (because you are legally required to join the private system - there is no other possible reason), ask to get this in writing, then go to a private insurer with that letter.
And they WILL backcharge you - there is no way to avoid this.

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Please note that AngelineKraus is a commercial insurance agent probably working on commission.
Since public health insurances do not pay commission, such agents are unlikely to tell you that going public is a better option in your case.

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Jesschev has lived in Australia and has an EU passport. This does NOT entitle her to public insurance in Germany - the rules are clear: if she had lived the past 12 months in an EU country with public insurance (eg NHS or in Spain, Denmark etc), she could apply as a voluntary member of public insurance here (complicated procedure involving S1/E104 forms)with proof of previous membership ..but that is NOT the case.
She can run around till sheŽs blue in the face but no public insurer will take her: unless she were able to apply to the Künstlersozialkasse for artistŽs insurance.... .but that is a complicated procedure and can take 6-8 months with NO guarantee. If she were accepted, she would become a compulsory member of public insurance.
The issue is: NOW!
As a newcomer, it is very difficult for a freelancer on a probably low income to get accepted by private German companies..very, very difficult. Why? Because a client cannot be thrown out even for non-payment. You can be relegated to emergency cover level (Notlagentarif). So why would they risk your business? They donŽt know you or your financial background.
Your best bet is to find a legal international insurance for the time being - it has to be recognised by BaFin (the German Financial Supervisory Authority).
It IS true you have to be health insured here - but NOT true it has to be a German provider and 100% NOT true that a public Kasse here has to take you. They will NOT - 100% NOT!

Totally wrong, IŽm afraid. Insurance for freelancers does NOT have to be German. It has to be registered with BaFin under the so-called European Passport rules.
This is a reply to two of BeppiŽs posts: my first comment in the previous post and the second comment that public insurance has to take her -NO chance.

John G.: I would be interested in which "clear rules" you refer to. It is certainly not clear from SGB V (which is the governing law for health insurance) and the six experts I asked (from insurance employees over Sozialbeamter, independent consultant, agent to Ombudsmann for health insurance) gave me completely different answers regarding my case.
I have a EU passport, lived in a non-EU country for years and became (together with my dependent family members) member of a public health insurance from the day I arrived in Germany. It IS possible, under certain circumstances.
Fact is that the rules are VERY complicated and (at least to me and the experts I asked) unclear. I recommend you get professional advice and assistance instead of relying on information from an informal internet forum.

Dear beppi! I am not trying to ruffle your feathers! Or annoy you!
I am someone who has seen enough false information re health insurance here over the years - and IŽve been here over 22 years!
I agree 100% it is ridiculously complicated here and the rules are almost impossible to understand and I do agree: you get different answers according to whoever you talk to. That can be with a public Kasse or a private insurance company.
In your case: did you come here as an employee? Then, no problem with public insurance for you and your family. Did you have two of the previous five years before coming here membership of public insurance in an EU country ( if self-employed)?
It is very complicated! And especially for non-EU citizens coming here eg the Australian lady despite her EU passport.
I will try to get back here the next day or two with my comments but just one thing: I donŽt rely on advice from an informal internet forum  but GIVE professional advice on a daily basis in my professional life- warts Žn all!

I was freelancer before coming to Germany, but became employee here (salary above the public insurance limit). I lived outside the EU and had no health insurance in the five years before coming.
After two public insurers (of the 200 that exist!) refused to even process my membership application, I engaged a consultant whose main job is to get people into the public health insurance system. Yes that exists (and shows you how riduculously complicated things are here)! He"s usually engaged by the social security authority (Sozialamt) to get impoverished (elderly) people out of expensive private plans, which the authority would have to otherwise pay for. He was rather surprised to have me as a completely different client, but his advise was very valuable and I soon became member of a third public insurer.

YouŽve answered your own issue, beppi! You became an employee and therefore pflichtversichert ( compulsorily insured !). Nothing more, nothing less - you were not an Australian freelancer with an EU passport who had never been in the EU public system.
IŽd be very happy to exchange private emails on this issue - public insurance Kassen make amazing mistakes based on lack of knowledge and I help people on a daily basis.
I donŽt bite!
Cheers
John

My salary is above the limit for pflichtversichert, and the last time I lived in the EU (over 5 years prior to that), I was member of a private health insurance. These things seem to all make a difference, but none of the experts could agree on exactly which difference.

But this is not a German health insurance forum (those exist and I can recommend reading them - in German language - if you're interested in the matter), thus we shouldn't discuss this any further here.
(Sorry, I also have no interest in discussing any further by email.)

This is not a German health insurance forum - I agree. But this thread started because of a question about health insurance from  a lady. She merits correct answers in English as per the language on this forum...as do others asking questions on here.
I will happily continue to give my opinions to anyone writing on here and my opinions are based on substantial experience and daily interaction with reality here for expats.

beppi:
http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/sgb_5/__9.html (1)1
The attached is from SGB5 § Freiwillige Versicherung and refers to voluntary memberhip of German public health insurance. Voluntary membership in the posterŽs case is what she needs as a self-employed foreigner but the requirements are: at least two of the past five years or uninterrupted in the past twelve months she would have to have been a member of public insurance ( this includes in another EU Country). She has been publicly insured in Australia and does NOT qualify for public insurance. She would qualify for compulsory public insurance/pflichtversichert is she got a salaried job earning at least 450.1 euros a month.