Health insurance for cross-border workers
Working in Switzerland while living in France, Germany, Italy or Austria opens a right of option. It is exercised once, within a short deadline, and is in principle irreversible.
What the right of option is
A cross-border worker is in principle subject to Swiss health insurance. The bilateral agreements nevertheless allow them to request an exemption and insure themselves in their country of residence. The request is made within three months of taking up employment, to the authority of the canton of work.
After that deadline, LAMal membership becomes compulsory. And once exercised, the choice is in principle final for the whole duration of the cross-border employment.
What separates the two systems
- LAMal is paid through an individual premium, identical whatever your income, and every family member pays their own.
- A foreign scheme is generally funded by income-related contributions and often covers dependants at no extra cost.
- LAMal gives unrestricted access to treatment in Switzerland; a foreign scheme covers the country of residence first.
- Deductibles, co-payments and the catalogue of benefits are not comparable.
What we can and cannot compute
We show the exact LAMal premiums for your canton of work: they are public. We do not compute the cost of your national scheme: it depends on foreign scales we do not publish and which change every year.
A serious comparison puts the two side by side, family included. That is the kind of calculation a broker does with your figures, not a generic form.
What drives the price
- The country of residence.
- Family composition and the partner’s status.
- The canton of work, for LAMal premiums.
- Income, for contributions to the foreign scheme.
We show no tariffs on this page. Unlike LAMal premiums, no public register publishes prices for this branch: they depend on your profile and are calculated case by case. Quoting a figure here would be an invention.