Health insurance during an apprenticeship
An apprentice has an employer, so accident cover — and a modest wage, so rarely the means to front a high deductible.
The household priced
- 1 × Apprenticeyoung adult · Deductible CHF 300 · accident suspended
The most affordable canton is Zug, at CHF 229.50 a month for this household.
The most expensive is Geneva, at CHF 413.60 a month — for exactly the same cover.
From eight hours of work a week, the employer covers accidents through mandatory accident insurance: accident cover can then be suspended with the health insurer, which lowers the premium. That is the first move, and it is often forgotten. On the deductible, the arithmetic is the opposite of a student with no income: an apprentice earns little and cannot necessarily find CHF 2,500 at short notice. A low deductible costs more each month but protects cash flow. Until the end of the year they turn 18, the child rate still applies; the switch to the young-adult rate happens in the year of their nineteenth birthday.
What it costs, canton by canton
| Canton | Cheapest | Average premium | Gap over the year | Cheapest insurer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zug | CHF 229.50 | CHF 278.35 | CHF 586 | Visana |
| Appenzell Innerrhoden | CHF 244.70 | CHF 298.60 | CHF 647 | Vivao Sympany |
| Uri | CHF 261.20 | CHF 326.41 | CHF 783 | Agrisano |
| Obwalden | CHF 265.40 | CHF 326.84 | CHF 737 | Agrisano |
| Nidwalden | CHF 267.20 | CHF 323.05 | CHF 670 | Agrisano |
| Schwyz | CHF 277.50 | CHF 340.22 | CHF 753 | Agrisano |
| St. Gallen | CHF 278.50 | CHF 354.31 | CHF 910 | Agrisano |
| Valais | CHF 281.80 | CHF 363.12 | CHF 976 | Agrisano |
| Grisons | CHF 282.30 | CHF 354.47 | CHF 866 | Agrisano |
| Appenzell Ausserrhoden | CHF 286.00 | CHF 353.85 | CHF 814 | Agrisano |
| Lucerne | CHF 287.40 | CHF 350.68 | CHF 759 | Agrisano |
| Zurich | CHF 293.80 | CHF 383.69 | CHF 1'079 | rhenusana |
| Thurgau | CHF 297.90 | CHF 355.22 | CHF 688 | Agrisano |
| Glarus | CHF 300.40 | CHF 352.28 | CHF 623 | Agrisano |
| Schaffhausen | CHF 300.90 | CHF 374.26 | CHF 880 | Agrisano |
| Bern | CHF 309.50 | CHF 397.78 | CHF 1'059 | Visana |
| Fribourg | CHF 312.10 | CHF 383.64 | CHF 858 | Agrisano |
| Aargau | CHF 314.70 | CHF 369.60 | CHF 659 | Agrisano |
| Solothurn | CHF 322.60 | CHF 386.48 | CHF 767 | Visana |
| Basel-Landschaft | CHF 333.50 | CHF 421.04 | CHF 1'050 | Assura-Basis |
| Jura | CHF 359.70 | CHF 440.39 | CHF 968 | Visana |
| Vaud | CHF 372.20 | CHF 438.58 | CHF 797 | Philos |
| Ticino | CHF 373.70 | CHF 465.87 | CHF 1'106 | Agrisano |
| Neuchâtel | CHF 386.50 | CHF 459.06 | CHF 871 | Sanitas |
| Basel-Stadt | CHF 391.00 | CHF 455.98 | CHF 780 | CSS |
| Geneva | CHF 413.60 | CHF 487.70 | CHF 889 | Mutuel |
The amounts are the lowest premium found in the canton, across all models, for the composition above. A canton’s lowest premium sits in one specific premium region: your municipality may belong to another. The comparator gives the exact figure for your postcode. When a household has several insured people, each is placed with the insurer cheapest for them: the right-hand column may therefore name two, and nothing requires a family to choose the same insurer for everyone.
Three things to check
- 1Suspend accident cover if you work more than eight hours a week.
- 2The rate changes in the year you turn 19: the premium jumps, so plan for it.
- 3Premium reductions are based on your own income, not your parents’, once you come of age.
The other situations
- Health insurance as a student
- Health insurance in your first job
- Health insurance for a family of four
- Health insurance when self-employed
- Health insurance in retirement
- Health insurance when arriving in Switzerland
- Health insurance for a child
- Health insurance when you are out of work
- Health insurance for two
- Health insurance as a cross-border worker
- Health insurance after retirement
2026 · OFSP / priminfo.admin.ch