How to choose health insurance in Switzerland — five decisions, in order.
Choose in this order: the model, from how you use doctors; the deductible, from a break-even of about CHF 2,011 of yearly medical costs; the insurer, on the premium in your own region; whether to keep accident cover; and last, whether supplementary cover is worth applying for. Basic benefits are identical at every insurer, so model and price decide.
Updated
45 minutes with Robert. Free.
In English · With or
We'll send you a short intake form so we understand your needs before we speak.
Your details
You're booked
Check your email for a calendar invite and a video call link.
In brief
Do not start with the insurer. The model and the deductible move your premium by more than the choice between insurers does, and both depend on you, not on the market. Decide those first, then compare insurers for your postcode.
- 1 · Model
- From your doctor habits. 2027 median adult premium: Standard CHF 596.10 a month, Hausarzt CHF 530.30, HMO CHF 531.60, Telmed CHF 525.20.
- 2 · Deductible
- From the break-even: below about CHF 2,011 of yearly medical costs the CHF 2,500 deductible wins; above it, CHF 300 does. The most the law lets an insurer discount is CHF 1,540 a year.
- 3 · Insurer
- On the premium in your region. The median offer sits CHF 50.40 a month above the cheapest on the standard model, for identical basic cover.
- 4 · Accident
- In or out. If you work eight or more hours a week for one employer, your employer already insures you and you can switch it off at your health insurer.
- 5 · Supplementary
- Whether, and when. It is underwritten, so the insurer can decline you. And it gets dearer with entry age.
Every step below ends in a number you can check against your own quote.
Five decisions, one table.
The order matters: each decision sets the price basis for the next. The figures are from the 2027 FOPH premium data, our Expat Health Insurance Index and our Hospital Insurance Cost Index (adults, list prices).
| Decision | What decides it | The number | Order of magnitude |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Model | How you use doctors: a fixed GP, a network clinic, a phone call first, or free choice | 2027 median adult premium: Standard CHF 596.10, Hausarzt CHF 530.30, HMO CHF 531.60, Telmed CHF 525.20 a month | CHF 66–71 a month between Standard and the cheaper models |
| 2 · Deductible | Your yearly medical costs against the break-even | Break-even about CHF 2,011 a year; legal cap on the discount CHF 1,540 a year | Up to CHF 1,540 a year |
| 3 · Insurer | Premium in your premium region, for your model and deductible | Median offer against cheapest, standard model, 42 regions: CHF 50.40 a month (any model: CHF 66.19) | About CHF 600–800 a year |
| 4 · Accident | Whether you work 8+ hours a week for one employer | Zürich Region 1: median offer CHF 677.00 with accident, CHF 634.20 without (standard, CHF 300) | About CHF 30–43 a month |
| 5 · Supplementary | Whether you will use what it pays, and your age at entry | SWICA semi-private hospital cover, new customer: CHF 112 a month at 38, CHF 254 at 53, CHF 334 at 65 | Decided by age and health, not by price alone |
List prices before any health underwriting. Not a recommendation and not financial advice. Sources: FOPH premium data 2027; Expat Health Insurance Index 2026; Hospital Insurance Cost Index 2026.
Choosing — step by step.
-
Decide the model from how you use doctors
Basic cover is the same at every insurer — the benefits are fixed by the KVG. What you choose is how you enter the system. Standard lets you see any GP or specialist. Hausarzt commits you to a GP from the insurer's list. HMO commits you to a network clinic. Telmed means you phone the insurer's line first. The discounts are anchored in law (at most 20% of the ordinary premium, Art. 101 Abs. 3 KVV) and have held flat for eleven years: in our index, 13.9% for Hausarzt, 16.4% for HMO and 16.0% for Telmed in 2026, which was CHF 874, CHF 1,083 and CHF 992 a year. On the 2027 medians, Standard is CHF 596.10 a month and the other three sit between CHF 525.20 and CHF 531.60. Worked example (illustrative): in Zürich Region 1, the median Standard offer at CHF 300 is CHF 677.00 a month and the median HMO offer is CHF 588.05, a difference of CHF 88.95 a month, or CHF 1,067 a year. You give up free choice of clinic for that. If you have a GP you love who is not on the list, Standard is the honest answer.
Tip Before you commit to Hausarzt or HMO, look up your GP or clinic on the insurer's own list for your canton. Read how to change your insurance model for the checks.
-
Set the deductible from the break-even, not from the discount
There are six adult deductibles, CHF 300 to CHF 2,500. The law caps the discount an insurer may give at 70% of the extra risk you carry, which is CHF 1,540 a year at CHF 2,500 (Art. 95 Abs. 2bis KVV). In our Zürich data, 21 of 27 insurers file exactly that cap. The break-even is about CHF 2,011 of yearly medical costs. Below it, the CHF 2,500 deductible wins; above it, CHF 300 does. Costs above the deductible also carry 10% coinsurance, capped at CHF 700 a year for adults. Worked example (illustrative): a healthy 38-year-old in Zürich Region 1 spends about CHF 600 a year on care. On an HMO, the median offer falls from CHF 588.05 at CHF 300 to CHF 459.90 at CHF 2,500: CHF 128.15 a month, CHF 1,538 a year. At CHF 600 of costs the extra exposure is CHF 270, so the net gain is about CHF 1,268. If the same person is planning a pregnancy or starts regular treatment, the answer reverses. Keep the CHF 2,500 in savings, because a bad year will ask for it.
Tip Use your last twelve months of actual invoices, not a feeling. The deductible guide has the full six-tier table and the family rules.
-
Compare insurers on the premium in your own region
Only now does the insurer matter, and only as a price. Premiums are set per premium region, so the answer for Zürich Region 1 is not the answer for Region 3 or for Zug. In 2027 the median offer sits CHF 50.40 a month above the cheapest offer on the standard model (CHF 66.19 across all models), measured across 42 regions, for identical basic benefits. The cheapest adult offer in Switzerland is CHF 227.50 a month (Zug, HMO, CHF 2,500); the dearest is CHF 915.70 (Geneva, Standard, CHF 300). Worked example (illustrative): in Zürich Region 1, the median HMO offer at CHF 2,500 is CHF 459.90 a month and the cheapest is CHF 406.80: CHF 53.10 a month, CHF 637 a year, for the same benefits. Insurers rise and fall in the ranking from year to year, so check every autumn. A basic insurer must accept you (KVAG Art. 5 lit. i), so this is a price decision, not an application.
Tip Run your postcode, age, deductible and model through the premium calculator. Once you have a candidate, see the best-insurer page for how the insurers differ on service, not on benefits.
-
Decide whether accident cover stays in
If you work eight or more hours a week for one employer, your employer already insures you against accidents under the UVG, and you can suspend accident cover at your health insurer (KVG Art. 8). That lowers the premium. If you do not (self-employed, part-time below the threshold, between jobs, a partner at home), it stays in. Worked example (illustrative): in Zürich Region 1, the median Standard offer at CHF 300 is CHF 677.00 with accident cover and CHF 634.20 without: CHF 42.80 a month, CHF 514 a year. On the HMO at CHF 2,500 the median gap is CHF 31.15 a month. The catch is the day the job ends: the employer's cover runs on for 31 days, then it stops, and you must tell your insurer to switch accident cover back on.
Tip Put the end of every employment in your calendar with a reminder to reactivate accident cover. It is the most common gap we find on people between jobs.
-
Decide whether to apply for supplementary, and when
Basic is guaranteed. Supplementary is not. Supplementary cover (VVG) is underwritten: the insurer asks about your health and can decline you, add an exclusion or a surcharge. So it is a decision to make deliberately, not one to leave until you need it. Two numbers from our Hospital Insurance Cost Index: SWICA's semi-private hospital cover costs a new customer CHF 112 a month at 38, CHF 254 at 53 and CHF 334 at 65. In Zürich, the average semi-private quote at 38 is CHF 107 a month and the cheapest is CHF 75 (Aquilana). KPT sells no new hospital cover above 50, and the other insurers in the index stop between 65 and 70. Worked example (illustrative): at 38, semi-private cover from SWICA costs CHF 1,344 a year; the same product for a new customer at 53 costs CHF 3,048. That gap is the age-curve trap. We usually say: most new arrivals need no supplementary in year one, and the ones who want it should decide with a price at their age in front of them. Read the supplementary insurance guide before you apply anywhere.
Tip Do not cancel an existing supplementary contract to save money on basic. A new insurer can decline you, and you cannot get the old terms back.
Where the order goes wrong.
Trap 01
Starting with the insurer
People open a comparison site, sort by price and pick the top line. That line is often a model or a deductible they would not choose. Decide those two first, then compare.
Trap 02
The discount reflex
CHF 2,500 has the biggest discount, so it gets picked. Above about CHF 2,011 of yearly costs it loses. Choose from your invoices, not from the number on the quote.
Trap 03
Accident cover left on, or left off
Left on for years after a job with an employer, you pay for cover you already have. Left off after the job ends, you have no accident cover once the employer's 31 days run out.
Trap 04
Supplementary at 53
Cheap at 32, brutal at 55, and an insurer can decline you at any age. The time to decide is before the premium curve steepens, not after.
These four are specific to this topic. The four we check in every review — from the age-curve trap to the 3-month deadline — are in the four traps deep-dive.
A real-pattern case.
Anonymised pattern
An illustrative example, not a real client. A 38-year-old newcomer in Zürich Region 1, healthy, about CHF 600 of medical costs a year, a GP in Zürich who is not fixed to one insurer, and a full-time employer. The default quote from a comparison site or a first insurer is the Standard model at CHF 300 with accident cover: CHF 677.00 a month, the median offer.
The five decisions in order: model (HMO, median CHF 588.05), deductible (CHF 2,500, median CHF 459.90), insurer (cheapest HMO offer, CHF 406.80), accident cover (switched off, CHF 386.50). The premium falls from CHF 677.00 to CHF 386.50 a month: CHF 3,486 a year. The price is a network clinic, a CHF 2,500 exposure in a bad year, and the job to tell the insurer when it ends. All figures are 2027 FOPH list premiums for Zürich Region 1, adult, in our premium data; they will not match a personal quote to the franc.
What this does not cover: supplementary. Nothing in this example applies to it. That is a separate decision, made once, with an age and a health questionnaire in front of you.
Aggregated from real client patterns. Names anonymised; figures illustrative.
Starting point
- Standard, CHF 300, with accident (median)
- CHF 677.00
Five decisions, a month
- 1 · Model: HMO (median)
- −CHF 88.95
- 2 · Deductible: CHF 2,500 (median)
- −CHF 128.15
- 3 · Insurer: the cheapest HMO offer
- −CHF 53.10
- 4 · Accident cover off (employed)
- −CHF 20.30
- Premium after four decisions
- CHF 386.50
Over a year
- Before
- CHF 8,124
- After
- CHF 4,638
- Difference
- CHF 3,486
Premium saving, a year CHF 3,486.
Beyond this guide — the 45-minute review.
The 45-minute review with Robert takes the five decisions in this order with your postcode, your age, your last twelve months of invoices and your employment status in front of us. We check your GP or clinic against the insurer's list, run the deductible break-even on your real costs, and tell you if supplementary is worth applying for, or not.
We are independent advisors, registered with FINMA (F01067278). The review is in English and free.
Robert Kolar
Insurance advisor — health insurance specialist
20+ years in Swiss insurance. Reads the basic and supplementary contract for every review. The 45-minute review covers the four-lever framework applied to your address, age, household and existing coverage. German, English, Czech.
Common mistakes.
Comparing insurers before choosing a model
The cheapest listed offer changes with the model and the deductible. Fix both first.
Choosing the deductible from the discount
Choose it from what you actually spent. The break-even is about CHF 2,011 a year.
Missing the 30 November cut-off
A change of insurer, model or deductible for 1 January must reach the insurer by 30 November (KVG Art. 7 Abs. 2).
Waiting past the three months
Foreign nationals insure within three months of registering with the commune (KVV Art. 7 Abs. 1); on-time cover starts at registration. Read the newcomer page.
Cancelling a supplementary contract to switch
Basic can move every year. Supplementary, once cancelled, may not come back on the same terms.
Frequently asked — choose health insurance in Switzerland.
How do I choose health insurance in Switzerland?
How do I compare Swiss health insurance providers?
How to select a health insurer in Switzerland?
Which deductible should I choose?
Is the cheapest Swiss health insurer the right one?
Do I need an insurance broker to choose health insurance in Switzerland?
Can I switch my health insurance after I choose?
Do I need supplementary health insurance in Switzerland?
What if I have just arrived in Switzerland?
Choosing, read properly.
We take these five decisions with you, in this order, on your postcode and your last twelve months of invoices. Free, 45 minutes, in English, with Robert. We tell you what to keep, what to change, and what you do not need to buy.
Book your first Swiss insurance review