LAMal (basic insurance)
In one sentence
The federal law making health insurance compulsory and setting a benefits catalogue identical at every insurer.
What it changes for you
This is the central fact of the Swiss system, and the least often repeated: the content of basic insurance is not negotiable. An insurer can neither add nor remove a benefit from the catalogue. Nor can it refuse to insure you, or ask you health questions. What remains negotiable is the price — hence the value of comparing, and the absence of any «best insurer» in the abstract.
Read next
- Supplementary insurance (VVG)Everything beyond the basic catalogue: private room, complementary medicine, glasses, dental, abroad.
- Benefits catalogueThe federal list of care reimbursed by basic insurance, identical at all 34 insurers.
- Obligation to acceptNo insurer may refuse you basic cover, whatever your age or state of health.