Preventive Medical Checkups

Every person with statutory health insurance has the right to free preventive medical check-ups. Screenings focus on diseases that can be treated if they are detected early. These include the most common causes of death, cardiovascular diseases, and tumors. 

Every person with statutory health insurance has the right to free preventive medical checkups. Preventive checkups focus on diseases that can be treated if they are detected early. These include the most common causes of death: cardiovascular diseases and tumors.

Few take advantage of the opportunities for preventive checkups: less than 50 percent of all women regularly go for early cancer detection screenings. Among eligible men (aged 45 and over) the figure is less than 20 percent. Only 17 percent take advantage of the opportunity to have a health checkup every three years from the age of 35.

Here is an overview of the preventive examinations paid for by statutory health insurance funds:

Early detection of cancer

• Genital examination (annually) for cervical cancer for women aged 20 years and over
• Breast examination (annually) for women aged 30 years and over
• Mammography screening (every two years) for women from the age of 50 years until the 70th birthday
• Prostate examination, genital examination (annually), palpation of lymph nodes for men from the age of 45 years
• Full-body examination of the skin in women and men from the age of 35
• Colon and rectal examination (annually), test for hidden (occult) blood (annually until the age of 54) in women and men from the age of 50. Men from the age of 50: Two colonoscopies at 10-year intervals, test for hidden (occult) blood every two years. Women from the age of 55: Two colonoscopies at 10-year intervals, test for hidden (occult) blood every two years 
• Skin cancer screening every two years from the age of 35

Health checkups

• Checkups for women and men every three years from the age of 35: Full-body examination with blood pressure measurement, blood tests to determine blood sugar and cholesterol levels, urine analysis, and detailed discussion with the physician

Preventive dental checkups

• Preventive dental checkups every half-year from the age of 18
• Examination for dental, oral, and maxillofacial diseases (every half-year) for girls and boys between 6 and 18 years. Children under 6: three examinations

Vaccinations

Vaccinations are part of the benefits catalog of statutory health insurance. In addition, health insurance funds may cover the cost of certain travel vaccinations.

• Standard vaccinations for infants, children, and adolescents, which every child should receive: Hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis (polio), Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib.) infection, pertussis (whooping cough), measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, human papillomavirus for girls between 12 and 17 years of age
• Booster vaccinations in adults or if the primary vaccination is missing: Diphtheria, Tetanus
• Vaccinations for members of certain age or risk groups: Influenza (standard vaccination for persons aged 60 years and over), pneumococcal infection (standard vaccination for persons aged 60 years and over), early summer meningoencephalitis (TBE), Haemophilus influenza type B (Hib.) infection, hepatitis A and B, rabies, meningococcal infection, poliomyelitis (polio), varicella, rubella, pertussis (whooping cough)

Pregnancy checkups

Pregnancy checkups include care during pregnancy and after delivery. Preventive services include:

• Detection and monitoring of high-risk pregnancies
• Ultrasound diagnostics
• Examination for gestational diabetes
• Examination for HIV
• Other blood tests for infections
• Examination and consultation for woman in postpartum recovery

Chlamydia screening

Women up to the age of 25: annual screening for chlamydia to prevent genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection. The world's most common sexually transmitted bacterial disease can lead to unwanted infertility, pregnancy complications, and neonatal infections.

Early detection of abdominal aortic aneurysms

Men 65 years and over: One-time ultrasound examination for early detection of abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Child and adolescent preventive checkups

Children and adolescents under the age of 18 are exempt from consultation fees. Statutory health insurance covers many early detection and preventive measures for children and adolescents. Immediately after the birth of a child, the parents receive from the hospital an “examination booklet” in which the preventive checkups for children and when they are due are listed.

• "U" examinations (checkups for the early detection of diseases in children) for children from birth to the age of 6: ten checkups, beginning immediately after birth (U1 to U9). 
• “J” examinations (youth health checkups) for children between the 13th and 14th birthday (J1).