Basic insurance (Grundversicherung)

Basic insurance (Grundversicherung) is the common name for compulsory health insurance, in German obligatorische Krankenpflegeversicherung (OKP). Outside its regular lists, it can cover a medicine only in the individual cases set out in Art. 71a to 71c of the Health Insurance Ordinance (KVV).

Where patients meet it

According to the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG), the benefits catalogue of basic insurance currently contains no cannabis medicines. Basic insurance therefore reimburses them only in exceptional cases (BAG FAQ of 4 March 2025; Art. 71a ff. KVV).

• Reimbursement is decided case by case, under the conditions of Art. 71a to 71c KVV.
• The insurer pays only on a prior cost approval, given after consulting its medical adviser (Art. 71d para. 1 KVV).
• Once the application is complete, the insurer decides within two weeks, and a refusal must be justified to the treating physician and to the patient (Art. 71d para. 3 and 6 KVV).

Whether the conditions are met is decided by the insurer in each individual case, so we cannot promise an outcome. A supplementary insurance is private insurance and not part of the benefits rules of basic insurance; what it covers depends on the individual policy.

If you have questions about your own cover, contact your health insurer. Our article on insurance and cost approval explains the rules in more detail.