Skip to content
Vertrekklaar
Menu
NederlandsLog inPrices and plans

Swiss health insurance: three months' thinking time that is no postponement

You must insure yourself within three months of arrival — but the cover starts retroactively on your arrival date, and so do the premiums. Waiting saves nothing. Count on a fixed premium per person, for your children too, without any employer contribution.

5 min read

Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.

You must insure yourself within three months of arrival in Switzerland. Both the cover and the premium start retroactively on your arrival date. An adult pays an average of CHF 465.30 a month in 2026.

The system resembles the Dutch one: private insurers, a compulsory basic package, an excess. But on three points it works out so differently that it determines your monthly outgoings.

Why is the three-month deadline no thinking time?

Everyone who settles in Switzerland must take out insurance no later than three months after arrival. That sounds like room to compare calmly, and it is, but not financially. If you sign up in time, the cover starts on your date of settlement, not on the date of your signature. And because the insurer also reimburses the healthcare costs of those intervening months, you still have to pay the premiums for those same months. Whoever signs in the third month gets a bill for three months.

Waiting therefore gains nothing, and being late costs money:

  • the cover then only starts on the day you join, and you bear the costs before that yourself;
  • the insurer may charge a premium surcharge.

Sort it out in your first weeks.

What does it cost, and do children count?

Swiss premiums are not income-related and there is no employer contribution. You pay a fixed amount yourself, per person. For 2026 the official averages are:

Premium per month (2026)
Adult (from 26) CHF 465.30
Young adult (19–25) CHF 326.30
Child (0–18) CHF 122.50

The often-quoted CHF 393.30 is the average across all insured persons including children; count on CHF 465.30 per adult.

Unlike in the Netherlands, every child has its own premium. A family with two adults and two children therefore sits at around CHF 1,175 per month in bare premium, before the excess. That is the biggest fixed cost of this corridor, and the reason to put it in your budget early.

The premium differs per insurer, per place of residence and per chosen model. Compare on the government's official premium comparison tool.

How do franchise and co-payment work?

The excess is called the Franchise and is set at CHF 300 per year for adults by default. You may voluntarily raise it to 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000 or 2,500 in exchange for a lower premium. Children have no franchise by default.

On top of the franchise you pay 10% of the remaining costs (the Selbstbehalt), up to a maximum of CHF 700 per year for adults and CHF 350 for children. For a hospital stay CHF 15 per day is added. In the worst case a year therefore costs you CHF 1,000 in own costs at the standard franchise, and the premium comes on top.

One pitfall with medicines: if you choose an original product while a generic alternative exists, your co-payment rises to 40% instead of 10%, unless your doctor expressly prescribes the original.

Rather have everything for Switzerland on one list?

Then we'll send you the departure checklist for Switzerland, with every step in order, and five mails about the pitfalls and the real costs. You can switch it off at any time.

We use your address, and your departure date if you fill it in, only for the checklist, the guide and the mails after it. You can unsubscribe under every mail.

Are you always accepted?

The basic insurance has a hard duty to accept: every insurer must take you on, without reservation, without a waiting period, regardless of your age or health. An existing condition is therefore no problem at all for your basic cover.

For the supplementary insurance the reverse applies. It's voluntary, falls under different law and has a health questionnaire. And the insurer may refuse you. If you want supplementary cover for the dentist, glasses, alternative medicine or a free choice of hospital, arrange that while you're healthy, and don't cancel a current supplementary policy without a replacement.

Why do you pay the doctor yourself first?

In outpatient care, that is, without admission, Switzerland usually works with tiers garant:

  • the doctor sends the bill to you;
  • you pay;
  • you then submit the bill to your insurer.

Reimbursement usually follows within thirty days. The part that falls within your franchise you don't get back at all. In hospitals and pharmacies it usually does run directly between provider and insurer.

So keep working capital on hand, especially with a high franchise.

What softens the bill?

Cantons have an income-related premium reduction (Prämienverbilligung) for whoever lives in modest circumstances. Some cantons grant it automatically, others require an application. So find out what your canton does, because there is no national counter.

And you can choose a cheaper model:

  • a fixed GP as first point of contact;
  • an HMO practice, a group practice that coordinates your care;
  • compulsory telephone consultation first.

The discount on that is legally capped at 50% relative to the standard model with free choice of doctor. A real saving, then, but no miracle.

And your Dutch insurance?

It stops on your moving date; report the move to your insurer yourself.

If you're going to work in Switzerland, you are compulsorily insured there. The country-of-work principle, the rule that you are insured in the country where you work, also applies under the agreement between Switzerland and the EU. Your non-working family members follow you.

If you move with a Dutch pension or benefit, the treaty route via the CAK exists. It runs through an S1 document, with which you register in Switzerland.

One warning there: the country-of-residence factor for Switzerland stands at 1.000. With that factor the CAK adjusts your contribution to the cost of care in your country of residence. Switzerland thus sits at the highest value there is. Unlike with Spain or Portugal, you therefore get no discount via that route; you pay the full Dutch contribution.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 2 of 5 of the journey, step 2.3: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Switzerland or go straight to step 2.3 in the open plan.

Want to know more about this?

Then we'll send you the departure checklist for Switzerland, with every step in order, and five mails about the pitfalls and the real costs. You can switch it off at any time.

We use your address, and your departure date if you fill it in, only for the checklist, the guide and the mails after it. You can unsubscribe under every mail.

What this rests on

The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.

Is this still correct?

Read on

Calculate your move in two minutes

Choose your country and answer a few short questions about your situation. You immediately get a range of what it costs. Free, no account needed.

Also want to know whether your departure date is feasible? Take the departure scan: seven questions, and you see your whole plan in miniature →

Calculate your move →

Start with phase 1 for Switzerland

The first 6 steps for Switzerland are open: what you arrange, in which order, and the source for every step. You don't need an account.

Read phase 1 free: 6 stepsBuy the plan for Switzerland · € 299