Insured persons resident in Switzerland

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Health insurance: Insured persons resident in Switzerland

If you live in Switzerland, find out here about everything you need to know: premium comparisons, premium reductions, your contribution to costs, special forms of insurance, voluntary daily benefits insurance and your insurance card.

Want to calculate or compare premiums for compulsory (basic) health insurance? On the www.priminfo.ch website you’ll find a neutral premium calculator provided by the federal authorities.

Mandatory insurance requirement

Anyone who takes up residence in Switzerland (Swiss citizens or holders of a C or B permit) must take out insurance within three months. The same deadline applies for parents of newborn children.

Premiums and contributions to costs

Premiums are set by the insurers. Basically they’re the same for all insureds, although there are differences from canton to canton. Insureds contribute to costs by way of an annual deductible, co-payments and contributions to the costs of hospitalisation.

Special forms of insurance

Insureds have various options for reducing their premium: 1) choosing a higher deductible, 2) limiting their choice of doctors and hospitals (e.g. by choosing a family doctor model) or 3) opting for a bonus model.

Premium reductions

Under the terms of the Health Insurance Act, premium reductions can be granted in certain cases, with insureds with modest financial means receiving contributions from the federal and cantonal authorities.

Voluntary daily benefits insurance

Incapacity to work, for example because of illness, maternity or an accident, can result in loss of earnings. Voluntary daily benefits insurance covers you for this risk.

Supplementary insurance

Supplementary (or top-up) insurance plans cover benefits not included under compulsory (basic) health insurance. They are optional for insureds, and insurers are under no obligation to admit applicants to supplementary insurance.

Insurance card

Insurers issue their insureds with an insurance card. It helps improve the quality of medical care and simplify the settlement of claims, and can also serve as ID for the electronic patient record.

Documents

The compulsory health insurance in a nutshell (PDF, 756 kB, 10.01.2020)

Last modification 26.08.2019

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Contact

Federal Office of Public Health FOPH
Health and Accident Insurance Directorate
Governance Supervision Section
Schwarzenburgstrasse 157
3003 Berne
Switzerland
Tel. +41 58 462 21 11
E-mail

Print contact

https://www.bag.admin.ch/content/bag/en/home/versicherungen/krankenversicherung/krankenversicherung-versicherte-mit-wohnsitz-in-der-schweiz.html