The premium follows the cost, not the other way round
Care reimbursed by basic insurance costs CHF 4'833.66 per insured person per year in Switzerland — from CHF 3'567.01 to CHF 5'886.41 depending on the canton. Set against each canton’s cheapest premium, that cost explains 88.5 % of the gap.
What the figure means
Cost of care and cheapest premium move together from one canton to the next: 88.5 % of the premium gap is explained by the cost gap. The direction is not a matter of interpretation — no insurer can durably charge less than it reimburses.
The consequence is immediate for anyone comparing: much of the difference with the neighbouring canton comes from the care consumed there, not from an insurer’s pricing. Switching insurer does not make it go away. What remains to be gained is real, but it is the gap WITHIN the canton.
The cantons that depart from the trend
The canton of Schaffhausen has the cheapest premium furthest below the trend: CHF 513.42 a year less than its costs would suggest. At the other end, Geneva sits CHF 449.94 above it.
Mind what that gap measures. The premium used here is the canton’s BEST offer, not its average. A canton well below the trend is therefore one where at least one insurer prices aggressively — a measure of local competition, not proof that another canton overcharges.
The figures
The other studies
- The 25 insurers that have disappeared since 2015
- Where premiums have risen most since 2015
- What not comparing costs
- When the 2 500-franc deductible starts costing more
- The same law, four times cheaper
- The 270 postcodes where your postcode is not enough
- What "Callmed" actually means
- Your district neighbours do not pay your premium
- Twelve years of increases, insurer by insurer
- Changing insurer without changing owner
Source: Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), official premiums and archives.