Self-employed artists and publicists are compulsorily insured for statutory pension, health and long-term care insurance via the Künstlersozialkasse (KSK). You must register with the Künstlersozialkasse in order to be admitted.

According to the Artists' Social Insurance Act (KSVG), you are an artist if you create, perform or teach music, performing or visual arts. You are considered a publicist if you work as a writer, journalist or in a similar capacity or teach journalism.

You must pay monthly contributions to the KSK. Calculation factors for the contribution payments are

• the expected income from self-employed artistic or journalistic work and
• the contribution rates for the individual branches of insurance.

Due to the fluctuating income situation in the case of self-employment, the monthly income is not used as the basis for calculating the monthly insurance contributions. Instead, the expected annual income from self-employed artistic or journalistic work is used as the basis for calculation.
However, the expected income from self-employed artistic or journalistic work must exceed EUR 3,900 per year (marginal earnings threshold).
Exceptions apply, for example, to young professionals: as such, you are insured under the Artists' Social Insurance Act even if your income is not expected to exceed the marginal earnings threshold.
If you are insured with the KSK, you only pay 50% of the statutory pension, health and long-term care insurance contributions to the KSK. The other half of the contribution is paid by the federal government and companies or clients (e.g. galleries, publishing houses, broadcasters or concert organizers) that exploit artistic and journalistic services and have to pay a so-called artists' social security contribution.
Self-employed persons who are compulsorily insured are entitled to the same benefits from the statutory health insurance fund in the event of incapacity for work as employees. This means that a self-employed person receives sick pay from the health insurance fund from the seventh week of incapacity for work.

The Artists' Social Insurance Act provides for various exceptions to the insurance obligation. Further information can be obtained from the KSK.