Frequently asked questions

Four levers, strongest first: switch to the cheapest insurer in your region, raise your deductible if you rarely see a doctor, move to a family-doctor or telemedicine model, and claim the cantonal premium reduction if your income qualifies. Benefits stay identical in every case.

Because healthcare costs rise: an ageing population, new treatments, more care delivered. Premiums must cover those costs — the law requires insurers to run basic cover at break-even, with no profit. A rise therefore does not mean your insurer has got worse, but it may mean another has got cheaper.

The Federal Office of Public Health announces them in late September, usually around the 24th. Insurers then write to their members, by the end of October at the latest. That gives you roughly two months to compare and cancel before 30 November.

On priminfo.admin.ch, the Federal Office of Public Health’s site, and on opendata.swiss. Those are our only sources: the premiums shown here come straight from them, with no intermediary and no estimate.

Do not ignore it: unpaid premiums can lead to debt enforcement, and some cantons keep a list of insured people whose benefits are suspended except in emergencies. Contact your insurer first for a payment plan, then your municipality’s social services. An insurer cannot exclude you from basic cover, but it can block a switch while arrears remain.

To your canton of residence, never to your insurer. Some cantons pay it automatically on the basis of your tax assessment; others require an annual application with a deadline. The relevant office is usually called the social insurance office or the cantonal compensation fund.

People of modest economic means, according to thresholds each canton sets itself — hence the wide differences. Families with children and young adults in education benefit from more favourable rules everywhere. Anyone receiving supplementary benefits or social assistance gets it automatically.

In writing, with a letter that must have ARRIVED at your insurer by 30 November at the latest for a change on 1 January. The date of receipt counts, not the postmark: send it registered a few days earlier. Do not wait for the new insurer’s confirmation before cancelling, but keep proof of posting.

A basic-cover premium only changes on 1 January, so there is no mid-year rise to react to. If your insurer changes another term of your contract during the year, however, read the letter carefully: an extraordinary right of cancellation may open.

Medical consultations, hospital stays in the general ward of your canton, medicines on the specialities list, maternity, home care on prescription, physiotherapy on prescription, and part of transport and rescue. This catalogue is set by law and identical at every insurer.

It depends first on your municipality: premiums vary twofold between the cheapest and dearest regions. The comparator shows your exact price for your municipality, your age and your deductible — that is the only honest answer to this question.

Once your deductible is met, insurance reimburses 90 per cent of costs and you keep 10 per cent: that is the co-payment. It is capped at CHF 700 a year for an adult and CHF 350 for a child. Beyond that cap, everything is reimbursed.

Under direct billing, the provider sends the invoice straight to your insurer, which then claims your share. Under the reimbursement system, you receive the invoice, pay it, and claim it back. Hospitals generally use direct billing, doctors’ practices more often the reimbursement system.

You have three months from taking up residence to join an insurer of your choice. Cover then runs from the day you arrived. After that deadline it starts only on enrolment, and costs already incurred stay with you. No insurer may turn you down.

Declare the birth to an insurer within three months: cover then takes effect retroactively from the day of birth, and the child’s maternity costs are covered. Take out supplementary cover early too — a healthy newborn is accepted without exclusions, which is no longer guaranteed a few months later.

If you work more than eight hours a week for the same employer, they cover you against accidents. You can then ask your insurer to suspend accident cover, which lowers your premium. Remember to reinstate it if you stop working — that step is often forgotten.

The law sets no precise deadline, but two to six weeks from receipt of the invoice is usual. If the wait drags on without explanation, follow up in writing: that letter is what gets things moving, and it will serve you in a dispute.

A cross-border worker employed in Switzerland is in principle subject to LAMal, but may apply for exemption to stay insured in their country of residence. The application must be made within three months of starting work, and the choice is generally final. Check with the Common Institution under the LAMal before deciding.

In principle yes, as soon as they take up residence in Switzerland. An exemption is possible if they hold equivalent cover in their home country — it is requested from the canton within three months, with supporting documents. Practice varies by canton and by country of origin.

First ask for a formal written decision, then file a written objection within thirty days. If the objection is rejected, an appeal to the cantonal insurance court is open, free of charge in most cantons. The health insurance ombudsman can also mediate, at no cost.

Yes. The federal health insurance act sets the catalogue of basic benefits, and it binds every insurer without exception. An insurer can neither remove nor add anything. What varies is the price, the tariff region, the model chosen and the quality of the administration.

Ordinary cancellation of basic cover must reach your insurer by 30 November at the latest, taking effect on 1 January. The letter must have arrived by that date, not merely been posted. A shorter deadline sometimes applies on the minimum deductible with the standard model; check with your insurer.

No. Moving from CHF 300 to CHF 2,500 lowers the premium, but you pay up to CHF 2,200 more yourself before anything is reimbursed. The maths depends on your expected health costs. The comparison shows the effect of each deductible on the premium.

These models cut the premium in exchange for a compulsory first contact before any specialist consultation: your family doctor, an HMO practice or a phone call. Reimbursed benefits stay identical. If you rarely go straight to a specialist, the saving is real.

No. Every premium is visible with no sign-up, no email and no account. The advisory form comes after the results, and it is optional.

Yes. The individual premium reduction is paid by your canton according to your income and assets. Conditions and thresholds vary by canton, and the application goes to your canton of residence, not to the insurer.

CHF 7,258 if you belong to a pension fund, and up to CHF 36,288 — that is 20 % of income — if you have no second pillar. These amounts are set by the federal government and are fully deductible from taxable income.

Pillar 3a is locked until five years before retirement age, except to buy a home, leave Switzerland for good or become self-employed; in exchange it is fully deductible. Pillar 3b stays available at any time with no contribution cap, but its deductibility is limited and varies by canton.