How many citizens change health insurance in Switzerland every year and why?
It is a recognized creed for Swiss people: regularly change your health insurance, or at least change your basic insurance! Many stick to it because they know that this can save a few hundred francs and more. However, convenience often wins and the notice period is missed.
In 2018, the health insurance premiums only increased by 1.2% and so a change is not worth the effort. But is that really true? How many Swiss actually change health insurance and why? The following article answers this question.
Why does a change make sense?
Already at a young age, people in Switzerland learn that they should check annually whether a change of insurance would pay off financially. But since this can be associated with a small amount of bureaucratic but nerve-racking effort, the question is rightly asked why a change makes sense at all.
The health insurance premiums are recalculated each year and increase in different amounts from canton to canton at the various insurance companies. Therefore, the costs for the monthly insurance premiums are always recalculated.
At the end of October, the Swiss health insurance companies are obliged to inform their insured of the amount of premiums for the next year and to make them aware of their right to switch.
Attention: Anyone who changes does not make themselves unpopular, because insurers treat regular customers no differently than new customers.
How does the change go?
For basic insurance, there is a notice period of 30 days at the end of each year. This means that the written notice of cancellation must have been received by the cash register by November 30 at best. It is important to be careful:
- The actual receipt of the cancellation counts and not the postmark.
- The insurance number and the date must be stated on the cancellation.
Supplementary insurance has a longer notice period of three months, which is why the notice of cancellation must be received by the fund by September 30th. Pay attention here as well: wait for the written confirmation of the new cash register for your admission before you quit.
Supplementary insurance providers are not legally obliged to accept you, but can decide depending on the health check.
How many citizens change?
The reasons are seeping through and more and more citizens change their health insurance every year. In 2016 there were around one million insured who used the services of a new fund for 2017. It is important to distinguish that around half a million of them were forced to switch because their previous health insurance companies merged with a new one.
Every year, the BAG publishes the? Statistics on compulsory health insurance ?:
year | terminations | Percent of insured |
2010/2011 | 896.221 | 11,5 % |
2011/2012 | 566.415 | 7,2 % |
2012/2013 | 435.939 | 5,4 % |
2013/2014 | 561.612 | 6,9 % |
2015/16 | 1.312.413 | 15.7% |
The importance of a change and the financial benefits are causing more and more Swiss people to change health insurance. The BAG data can be used to identify trends and to respond to the needs of Swiss citizens.
Last but not least, the increase in the number of people changing is most likely due to the savings potential and the low cost of termination formalities.
Change health insurance: a comparison helps
Anyone looking for a new health insurance company can of course use various methods. But one of the most straightforward solutions is to compare offers from different insurance companies online, such as ours health insurance comparison.
On the Internet, it only takes a few mouse clicks to compare the offers of the health insurance companies and thus to select the best offer for your own needs. This free service makes it much easier to change insurance providers.
In addition, it only takes a little time to check these offers and thus select the tailor-made service package for your own needs.
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