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Topic test · B1

Health insurance test

13questions
8minutes
60%pass mark
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One question at a time, the clock runs. Answers stay closed like a real exam: you see every correct answer with its explanation at the end. Score 60% to finish the topic.

Topic test

13 questions, easy to hard

Pick an option and press «Next». You can go back and change it. Anything left blank counts as wrong.

What does gesetzliche Krankenversicherung mean?

Statutory / public insurance. gesetzlich = regulated by law. Most employees are in this system; the private one is called privat (PKV).

What is the first step when you are ill?

Tell your employer first. The verbal notice (Krankmeldung) is made before work starts; the doctor’s note (AU) comes after. They are two separate steps.

What does AU stand for?

Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung. The written note the doctor gives you. Saying “Brauche ich eine AU?” to the doctor is enough; everyone understands.

What is the small fee you pay at the pharmacy called?

die Zuzahlung — the copay. der Beitrag is the monthly premium deducted from your pay, a different thing.

How do you get a copay exemption?

By applying. The exemption does not come by itself; you document what you paid. Whoever throws away the receipt loses the entitlement.

A letter from your fund says innerhalb von zwei Wochen. What does that mean?

A deadline is running. innerhalb von … sets a cut-off. This is usually the most important line of the letter — if you don’t understand it, ask for an extension instead of not replying.

What is “die Versichertenkarte” for?

die Versichertenkarte (or Gesundheitskarte) is handed to reception at every visit; it shows that you are insured.

Ich bin der AOK versichert.

I’m insured with the AOK.

Being with a health insurance fund is expressed with bei + dative: bei der AOK versichert sein.

By when at the latest must you get the AU from the doctor?

By law, if the illness lasts more than three calendar days (weekends count), you need it by the next working day — usually that is the fourth day. But your employer may ask earlier, and many contracts say “day one”. Whatever your contract says applies — telling your employer is always due on day one. You don’t hand the AU in yourself: the doctor sends it to the fund electronically (eAU) and your employer retrieves it there.

What does “die Überweisung” mean at the doctor’s?

The same word means a “transfer” at the bank, but at the doctor’s it means a referral. A prescription is das Rezept.

Ich bin in die AOK versichert.

I’m insured with the AOK.

To say you are insured with a health insurance fund, you use the preposition bei der: bei der AOK.

die (or Gesundheitskarte)

Health insurance card

It is the chip card you have to carry with you when you go to the doctor.

Build the sentence: Do you need my insurance card?

Tap the pieces to build the sentence

A typical question you might be asked at the entrance of a doctor’s office.
Quick rules

The rules in three lines

The full topic lives on its own page. This is only the core you need for the test.

  1. Statutory and private insurance

    gesetzliche Krankenversicherung charges by income and can cover your family; private insurance prices by risk. Most employees are in the statutory system.

    Ich bin bei der AOK versichert.

  2. When you’re ill, the order is: tell → doctor → eAU

    First tell your employer (before work starts), then see the doctor. The doctor sends the AU to the fund electronically (eAU) and your employer retrieves it there — you carry no paper. By law you need it if the illness lasts more than three calendar days (weekends count), at the latest on the next working day; your employer may ask for it from day one.

    die Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung (AU)

  3. No card, no appointment

    die Versichertenkarte is handed to reception at every visit. Without a card, the visit can be billed privately.

    Haben Sie Ihre Versichertenkarte dabei?

  4. Zuzahlung and exemption

    You pay a small copay (die Zuzahlung) on medicine and treatment. If the total passes a set share of your yearly income, you apply to your fund with the receipts and get an exemption.

    die Zuzahlungsbefreiung

Traps

Commonly mixed up

Where a direct translation breaks. The hard questions come from here.

  • Ich bin in der AOK versichert.

    Ich bin bei der AOK versichert.

    Being insured with a fund is expressed with bei + dative.

  • I’ll get the AU once I’m better.

    You get the AU from the doctor within the deadline.

    If you get it too late, the absence can count as unexcused. The deadline in your contract is binding. You don’t deliver it yourself: since 2023 your employer retrieves it electronically from the fund (eAU).

  • At the doctor’s, “Überweisung” is a bank transfer.

    At the doctor’s, “Überweisung” is a referral to a specialist.

    The same word means a transfer at the bank; in medicine it means a referral.

  • When I’m ill I go to the doctor first and call my employer later.

    You tell your employer first, then go to the doctor.

    The duty to report arises before work starts; a doctor’s appointment does not postpone it.