New residents usually have 3 months to arrange Swiss basic health insurance. The important work happens earlier: registration date, accident cover, franchise, model, and whether supplementary should be applied for now or left alone.
First 90 days 
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
Check your email for a calendar invite and a video call link.
Direct answer
Deadline
Swiss basic health insurance is mandatory for residents. The federal rule is three months after taking up residence. In practice, bring your registration paperwork and we verify the exact canton timeline.
If arranged on time, basic coverage is retroactive.
First move
Basic insurance gets you compliant. After that, the real choices are franchise, model, accident coverage, family setup, and whether supplementary makes sense.
Clean window
Supplementary insurance is medically underwritten. The simpler your documented situation, the cleaner the application. We check whether it is worth applying now or skipping it.
The first consultation should not start with product names. It should start with the facts that decide the legal deadline, the premium architecture, and whether optional cover is still worth applying for.
| Fact | Why it matters | What to bring |
|---|---|---|
| Registration date | Confirms the 3-month deadline we need to work against | Bring Gemeinde/canton registration confirmation |
| Accident coverage | Employees over 8 hours/week are usually covered by employer accident insurance | Bring employment contract or HR confirmation |
| Family members | Every resident needs their own basic policy; children are separate | Bring spouse/child arrival and registration dates |
| Franchise and model | Controls premium and access path to doctors | Tell us your expected doctor usage and GP needs |
| Supplementary timing | Optional, underwritten, and harder after health events | Bring any existing medical context honestly |
| International cover | Some people need exemption or IPMI review instead of domestic setup | Bring current policy if you may be exempt |
This is the setup table we use before comparing insurer names.
The federal-law sequence for a newcomer is straightforward. The decisions inside it are not. Here is the timeline most expat households we work with follow — the deadlines that bind, the windows that matter, and the calls that pay off long-term.
Day 1–7
Keep the Gemeinde or canton paperwork. We use it to verify the federal 3-month insurance deadline against the canton.
Day 7–30
We sequence insurer, franchise, model, accident cover, and supplementary timing before any Swiss medical events make the decision messier.
Day 14–30
If it fits, apply before the first Swiss GP visit or claim. Supplementary insurance is underwritten under Art. 4 VVG.
Day 30–90
Basic acceptance is mandatory under KVG. Then we check card, AHV, payment setup, Hausarzt network, and whether anything needs follow-up before the deadline closes.
Day 90+ · If missed
If no basic insurance is registered in time, the canton can assign coverage and add a penalty surcharge under Art. 5 KVG.
Two contracts, two laws, two different rules. Most newcomers conflate them. Federal-law clarity first; the choice architecture follows.
Basic — KVG
Required for every Swiss resident under Art. 3 KVG. Catalogue of covered medical care identical at every insurer (Art. 25 KVG). 50+ Swiss basic insurers; you choose freely (Art. 41 KVG). Children pay a reduced premium; family Franchise cap available under Art. 64 §4 KVG.
Supplementary — VVG
Hospital supplementary (semi-private, private, worldwide). Outpatient supplementary (complementary medicine, prevention, dental). Travel and emergency abroad. All underwritten individually (Art. 4 VVG); apply before any conditions develop.
Mandatory is mandatory; optional is genuinely optional. We say "don't take the supplementary you don't need" more often than the market suggests we should.
Every architecture decision interacts with every other. Get the canton wrong and the premium math changes. Get the Franchise wrong and the wrong model becomes "optimal." Get the timing wrong and the supplementary you wanted becomes the supplementary that excludes you. We sequence these in the first review.
Federal benefits identical (Art. 25 KVG). Choice runs on premium, model availability per canton, claim-handling reputation, and supplementary product range. Most newcomers default to the largest insurer in their canton; the largest is rarely the cheapest.
Your address determines premium tariff (Art. 49a KVG cantonal funding split; Art. 61 KVG premium-calculation principles). Within a canton, premium regions exist (Zürich Region 1 vs Region 2; Bern Region 1 vs 2 vs 3). Cantonal subsidies (IPV) vary materially. The address is mostly fixed at relocation; we model the implications.
Six legal adult tiers under Art. 64 KVG: 300, 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 2,500. Children: 0, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600. The right tier depends on actual care usage and the household's risk appetite. We routinely see newcomers default to 300 — it is the most expensive option and rarely the right one for a healthy adult.
Standardmodell, Hausarzt, HMO, Telmed, Pharmed. 8–18% premium variance across models within the same insurer. English-language model availability varies materially by canton. Hausarzt requires committing to a network GP — verify availability in your area before signing.
Most newcomers arrive with one structural advantage they do not realise. The Swiss supplementary underwriting questionnaire (Art. 4 VVG) asks about medical history. For someone arriving from the UK, US, Germany, or elsewhere, the medical history exists on home-country systems Swiss insurers do not query. What the insurer sees is the questionnaire you complete. Honest disclosure is required by federal law. But — most newcomers we meet have a cleaner application window in their first 90 days than they will ever have again.
Apply before Swiss claim history starts to accumulate.
The rule is not to hide history. The rule is to answer correctly before new Swiss events complicate underwriting.01
Hospitalisations, surgeries, medication, mental-health treatment, chronic conditions. The questions reference treatment in Switzerland and abroad.
02
After a first GP visit, specialist consultation, or claim in Switzerland, there is a new local record for the insurer to assess.
03
If hospital or outpatient supplementary fits, apply in the first 30 days. Detailed mechanics in our pre-existing-conditions reference.
Who reads the setup
For newcomers, the useful review is not a product list. It is the deadline, accident cover, franchise, model, and supplementary timing in the right order.
Insurance advisor — health insurance specialist
20+ years in Swiss insurance. Robert checks the registration deadline, basic setup, accident cover, franchise, model, and whether supplementary should be applied for now or left alone.
Book with Robert if
If the setup touches pension, 3rd pillar, life insurance, or cross-border tax, we bring Hans in after the health-insurance context is clear.
A family of four — both adults employed in Zürich, kids ages 7 and 11 — arrived from London in late January. Day 5 in Switzerland, before any medical events, they came to us. The first review covered five decisions in 45 minutes.
Registered by day 30.
By day 60, paediatrician and GP routes were mapped. The 3-month deadline was met with margin to spare.Four scenarios where the standard newcomer sequence needs adjustment. We handle each with a different first move.
Some executive packages include international medical insurance (IPMI) that meets Swiss equivalence requirements for KVG exemption under Art. 2 KVV. The exemption is not automatic — it requires application to the cantonal authority within 3 months of registration with documentary proof. For these cases we work with sip.ch, who specialise in international / IPMI insurance for executives. Misjudge the exemption and the household pays Swiss basic premiums alongside an international plan they don't need. Detailed walk-through in our IPMI vs Swiss supplementary piece.
Workers commuting daily from neighbouring countries (Germany, France, Italy, Austria) into Switzerland have specific cross-border insurance options under EU/EFTA agreements. The choice between Swiss KVG, home-country compulsory cover, or a private cross-border plan depends on family situation, income, and which side of the border medical care will primarily occur. We work with cross-border specialists on these cases.
Students with home-country health insurance meeting Swiss equivalence requirements may apply for KVG exemption (typically renewable each academic year). University-arranged international student insurance often qualifies. Verify equivalence with the cantonal authority before assuming exemption.
Past 90 days from cantonal registration, the canton's Ausgleichskasse assigns coverage — typically with the most expensive insurer at the most expensive model, surcharge backdated. The first move: regularise immediately. Then plan a clean switch at the next 30 November ordinary cancellation right under Art. 7 KVG. Detailed mechanics in our cancellation-deadline reference.
Comparis.ch and similar comparison portals are useful for premium comparison once you have decided your canton, age band, and Franchise tier. They are not a substitute for setting up your insurance for the first time. The structural difference: comparison portals do not read your contract, do not consult you on your expectations and needs, do not judge which supplementary setup makes sense for you, and do not run the lever calculations against your specific situation.
We use priminfo.ch ourselves for cross-canton premium lookup. We use Comparis when a reader asks us to. Neither is a replacement for the first setup. The longer answer to what an independent Swiss insurance advisor is sits at our positioning piece.
What clients say.
4.8 from 52 reviews on GoogleRobert is the best person to partner with if you need to do difficult things such as relocate.
After returning to Switzerland from abroad, Robert was a tremendous help consulting me about all the changes.
My session with Robert was one of the most efficient consultation sessions I'd ever had.
Highly recommend consulting Expat Savvy before making any online insurance comparisons.
Working with Ben was great. Very prompt and responsive. Would highly recommend to anyone.
Beide arbeiten Hand in Hand und haben die individuellen Anforderungen unserer Kunden immer im Blick.
After several bad experiences with other brokers, working with Mr. Robert Kolar was a completely different experience.
I was looking to change a supplementary insurance plan, and Robert guided me with professionalism and patience.
The first 90 days decide the insurance architecture you may live with for years. We read the setup, check the deadline, and send a written summary after the review.
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