Are glasses covered?
For an adult, no — not since 2011. For a child, basic insurance pays a modest annual contribution, on prescription.
What changed in 2011
Until 2010, basic insurance paid an annual contribution of roughly CHF 200 towards corrective lenses for adults. That benefit was cut as part of savings measures: since then, an adult pays for glasses in full.
For children and young people up to 18, an annual contribution remains — in the order of CHF 180 — paid on an ophthalmologist’s prescription. It covers the lenses, rarely the frame.
The medical exceptions
Some situations remain covered by basic insurance at any age, because the point is no longer to correct vision but to treat a disease. In those cases the ordinary rules apply: deductible, then a 10 per cent co-payment.
- After cataract surgery or another eye operation.
- For an eye condition on the benefits list, such as keratoconus.
- For therapeutic lenses prescribed as part of a treatment.
What supplementary cover changes
Most outpatient supplementary policies include an optical allowance: often CHF 100 to 300, renewable every two or three years. Watch the renewal period as closely as the amount — CHF 300 every three years is worth less than CHF 150 every year.
One point often missed: this allowance is usually poolable with other items in the same contract (fitness, complementary medicine). If you do not wear glasses it does not carry over — in that case a contract without the item, at a lower premium, serves you better.
Sophie’s guides
- CHF 300 or CHF 2,500 deductible?
- Family doctor, HMO or telemedicine?
- Cancelling your health insurer
- Premium subsidies
- Understanding LAMal
- Supplementary insurance (VVG)
- Pillar 3a taxation 2026
- Our status and your rights
- Is dental care covered?
- Are braces covered?
- Is complementary medicine covered?
- Is osteopathy covered?
- Is a private room covered?