Swiss health insurance estimator

How this estimate is calculated

We start from a canton-level baseline for a 30-year-old adult on the standard insurance model with a CHF 2,500 franchise and apply two adjustments: an age factor (children pay a fraction of adult premiums, young adults 19–25 pay a reduced rate, older adults pay slightly more) and a franchise factor (raising the franchise from CHF 300 to CHF 2,500 typically knocks roughly 15–20% off the premium, because you carry more of the first-loss risk). The range you see brackets the cheapest and most expensive insurers in the canton; the exact figure is anchored to canton-level averages published by the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG/OFSP).

We do not price alternative models (family doctor, HMO, Telmed) — those save 10–20% on top and are worth quoting separately on priminfo.admin.ch, the government's official comparison. <!-- VERIFY: data vintage — canton averages last refreshed for 2025 rates -->

What the inputs mean

• Age. Federal law fixes three age bands: children (0–18), young adults (19–25) and adults (26+). Within adults, some insurers apply small internal loadings for older ages, but there is no medical underwriting on basic insurance — nobody can be refused or surcharged for their health history under KVG/LAMal.
• Canton. Premiums are set per canton and, in larger cantons, per premium region (Prämienregion). Zurich, Bern, Vaud, St. Gallen, Graubünden and Ticino are split into two or three regions with materially different prices — the city usually costs more than the countryside.
• Franchise (Franchise / franchise). Your annual deductible. Adult options: 300, 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500. Above the franchise you still pay a 10% co-payment (Selbstbehalt / quote-part) up to CHF 700/year. On your Lohnausweis this doesn't appear — you pay premiums privately, not through payroll.
• Insurance model. Standard (free choice of doctor) is the default and most expensive. Family-doctor (Hausarzt / médecin de famille), HMO and Telmed (call a nurse hotline first) all restrict how you access care in exchange for lower premiums.
• Accident cover. If you work 8+ hours/week for a Swiss employer, accidents are covered by the employer's UVG/LAA insurance and you can exclude accident from your KVG premium (small saving). Non-workers, part-time under 8h/week and unemployed people must keep accident cover on.

How to read the result

The range is your monthly premium for basic insurance only. It is not a total health-spend estimate: you also carry the franchise, the 10% co-payment, and anything not in the KVG catalogue (dental, private hospital room, non-conventional medicine, most vision care). A young single adult on a high franchise can pay under CHF 280/month in a cheap canton; a 55-year-old on the standard model in Geneva can pay above CHF 550/month for the same legally identical basic cover.

Why the same person pays different amounts in different cantons

Basic insurance is priced per canton because health-care costs — hospital rates, doctor density, average consumption of care — vary sharply across Switzerland. The premium you pay in your canton has to cover the claims paid in your canton; there is no national pooling of basic-insurance costs. That is why Geneva, Basel-Stadt and Vaud have consistently sat at the top of the premium table and inner-Swiss cantons like Appenzell Innerrhoden, Nidwalden and Uri at the bottom. Moving 30 km can genuinely change your premium by CHF 100+/month.

Premium subsidies (Prämienverbilligung)

If your taxable income is below a cantonal threshold, the canton pays part of your premium directly to the insurer under the individual premium reduction scheme (Individuelle Prämienverbilligung / réduction individuelle des primes). Eligibility, income thresholds and the application process are set by each canton, not by Bern. Families with children and young adults in education are the most common recipients; some cantons apply automatically from tax data, others require an annual application by a set deadline. Check the social-insurance or tax office of your canton of residence. <!-- VERIFY: canton-by-canton subsidy thresholds change annually; do not quote a single national figure -->

Limitations of this tool

• We estimate basic KVG/LAMal only. Supplementary (VVG/LCA) insurance — private hospital room, dental, extended cover abroad, alternative medicine — is medically underwritten and can vary from CHF 20 to CHF 400+ per month depending on your age and medical history. It is not comparable this way, and you should never cancel an existing VVG contract before a new insurer has accepted you in writing.
• Premium regions within a canton are averaged. Living in the city vs the countryside of the same canton can shift the figure by 5–10%.
• We do not model the annual premium round. Federal premium changes are announced by BAG/OFSP each September for the following January and can move by ±5% year-on-year.
• For a legally binding quote, use priminfo.admin.ch — the official government comparison run by BAG/OFSP.

Next steps

• Swiss health insurance — a full guide for how the KVG system works, deadlines and what to do on arrival.
• Choosing your franchise and Krankenkasse — when the 2,500 franchise pays off and when it doesn't.
• Cost of living to see how premiums fit into a total monthly budget by canton.