Bundesinnungskrankenkasse Gesundheit

Bundesinnungskrankenkasse Gesundheit, also known as BIG direkt gesund, is a statutory health insurance fund operating in Germany. It provides health insurance coverage to individuals who are members of craft guilds and related trade associations. As a gesetzliche Krankenkasse, it offers the standard benefits package defined by the German Social Code Book V (SGB V), including medical treatment, hospital care, and preventive services. The fund administers contributions from its insured members and employers in accordance with the national solidarity principle. Its primary market consists of the insured persons belonging to the affiliated guilds and their dependents across the country.

The organisation is subject to oversight by the Federal Insurance Office and the relevant state authorities supervising statutory health insurance. Its distinguishing attribute lies in its occupational focus, serving a specific professional community rather than the general public. Like all health insurers, it processes and stores sensitive personal health data, which triggers stringent data protection obligations under the GDPR and the German Federal Data Protection Act. In March 2023, the fund disclosed an unauthorized access incident in which attackers exfiltrated part of its data, some of which later appeared on the darknet. Following the breach, the organisation engaged external forensic experts, cooperated with law enforcement and data protection authorities, and initiated measures to contain the spread of the published information and to improve its security posture.