brokers for private health insurance

There are plenty of insurance agents eager to get you into the private health insurance - just look for them online!

But: None of them will ever tell you that in many cases, and almost certainly for a family with a sole breadwinner, the public scheme is better and cheaper - because the public insurers don't pay agent's commissions. That should tell you something about in whose interest they act!

As Beppi mentioned, public options are almost always cheaper; not only is a non-working spouse covered for no additional cost but also any children under 18. One should inform themselves well and not just rely on insurnace agents looking to get a commision.

The subject has been coved extensively on this site and one can find a good overview on Wikipedia under "Healthcare in Germany". I won't set a link since it has been done so on other threads,