Comparing Swiss health insurance premiums: like for like, or not at all

The golden rule: only compare like with like

Mandatory basic insurance is governed by the Health Insurance Act (KVG) – and the law defines the benefit catalogue exhaustively. Every insurer must reimburse exactly the same benefits under basic insurance: medical treatment, hospital stays in the general ward, medicines on the official list and all other mandatory benefits. Paying a higher premium does not buy you a single franc of additional coverage in basic insurance. That is precisely why comparing premiums is so worthwhile – and precisely why the comparison has to be done cleanly.

Cleanly means: every factor that determines the premium must be identical on both sides of the comparison. Only when these five parameters match does a premium difference actually tell you which insurer is cheaper for you – rather than merely showing two different products side by side.

• Same deductible: a higher deductible lowers the premium – comparing a low against a high deductible says nothing about the insurer.
• Same insurance model: standard model with free choice of doctor, or an alternative model (family doctor, HMO, telmed) – premiums differ noticeably between models.
• Same accident cover: with or without accident – the premium differs depending on whether it is included.
• Same age group: children, young adults and adults each have their own premiums.
• Same premium region: premiums are tiered regionally – what counts is your place of residence.

The five most common comparison mistakes

The same mistakes come up again and again in practice – and every single one can completely distort the result:

• Comparing a total premium against a pure KVG premium: many invoices and policies list basic and supplementary insurance together. Checking that combined amount against a pure basic-insurance premium from a comparison means comparing two entirely different things – supplementary insurance (VVG) is a separate, voluntary product.
• Comparing after the premium reduction was deducted: the individual premium reduction (IPV) lowers your bill, not the insurer's tariff. Always compare the full tariff premiums – the reduction is tied to your financial situation and is not lost when you switch insurer.
• Different deductibles or models: a lower premium next door, or in an old comparison, often simply reflects a higher deductible or a restricted model – not a cheaper insurer.
• Outdated premium figures: premiums are approved anew every year by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and published each autumn. Figures from an earlier premium year can mislead – even the ranking of insurers can shift from one year to the next.
• Forgetting the accident cover status: anyone employed for at least eight hours per week with the same employer is insured against non-occupational accidents under the Accident Insurance Act (UVG) and can have accident cover in basic insurance suspended by the insurer. Compare a premium with accident cover against one without, and part of the difference is not an insurer difference at all.

Step by step: how to read your own premium correctly

Every comparison starts with your own policy. Look for the line labelled «mandatory health care insurance» or «basic insurance under KVG» – only this amount is the comparable KVG premium. Anything listed under headings such as supplementary insurance, hospital insurance or outpatient insurance under VVG does not belong in the premium comparison. Also note the three details your policy states for basic insurance: your deductible, your insurance model and whether accident cover is included.

The second step is checking against the official figures. The federal government runs Priminfo, the official premium calculator, and the same approved premiums are available as open government data. Our calculator works with exactly these official FOPH figures – you enter your postcode, year of birth, deductible, model and accident cover, and you see the premiums of all insurers for precisely your profile, with no advertising mark-ups and no mixing with supplementary products.

The third step is verification: do the deductible, model and accident cover in the comparison match your policy? Only if they do is the displayed difference between your current insurer and the cheapest alternative real. Our calculator follows the same logic and only shows a savings figure when the comparison basis is unchanged.

Beyond the price: what actually differs between insurers

Because the benefits of basic insurance are identical, what remains beside the price is above all service: how reachable and helpful customer support is, how quickly submitted invoices are reimbursed, and the quality of the app and customer portal. These differences are real, but they change nothing about your coverage – in a claim you have the same legal entitlement at every insurer.

There are small differences in payment terms: some insurers grant a discount if the premium for a whole year is paid in advance. Such rebates are a legitimate bonus, but they should never be the main reason for choosing an insurer – the tariff difference between insurers usually weighs more heavily.

One worry, by contrast, is irrelevant: being rejected. Basic insurance comes with an obligation to accept. Every insurer must admit every person regardless of age and state of health, and there is no health questionnaire. And if you hold supplementary insurance, you can keep it with your current company – basic and supplementary insurance are separate contracts and may sit with different providers.

Children and young adults: compare within their own age group

Basic-insurance premiums come in three age groups: children up to 18, young adults from 19 to 25, and adults from 26. A comparison is only meaningful within the relevant age group – the cheapest insurer for adults is not automatically the cheapest for children or young adults, because insurers price the age groups differently.

Children also have their own deductible logic: the tiers run from CHF 0 to CHF 600, and here too the comparison must be run on the same child deductible. For young adults, it is particularly worth looking in the year of the 18th and the 25th birthday – on 1 January of the following year the age group changes, and with it the premium, and often the answer to which insurer is cheapest.

A widespread misconception concerns the family as a whole: there is no family contract in basic insurance. Every person is insured individually, and every person may be with a different insurer. A family can therefore insure the children with the insurer that is cheapest for children and the parents with another – administratively that means a little more paperwork, financially it is often the better solution. That is why our calculator compares per person, with the matching age group and deductible for each.