Since 1983, self-employed artists and publicists have been included as compulsorily insured persons under the protection of the statutory health insurance and pension insurance schemes thanks to the Artists’ Social Security Act (KSVG). In 1995, this insurance coverage was extended to include long-term care insurance.

The funding scheme for artists’ social security contributions is modeled on that for traditional employees in Germany:  like employees, those covered by the Artists’ Social Security Act pay only half the contributions as their “employee share”; the “employer’s share” is paid by the users in the form of the social security contributions for artists (Künstlersozialabgabe - KSA) in addition to a government subsidy.

Artists and publicists are insured by the Artists’ Social Security Fund (Künstlersozialkasse - KSK), which is also the point of contact for all questions and source of assistance.

Source: BMAS (only available in German)