Supplementary insurances

Sensible supplement to your basic insurance

Supplementary insurance supplements the benefits provided by mandatory basic insurance. Around 80 % of Swiss people have opted for supplementary insurance. You can choose between supplementary outpatient insurance and hospital insurance. A supplementary health insurance comparison will help you find the right supplementary health insurance for your needs.

Individual insurance cover

The Swiss basic insurance already covers many medical services in case of illness, accident and maternity. However, you have to pay high co-payments for dental treatments, alternative healing methods or visual aids. This also applies if you want to feel better during your hospital stay. With voluntary supplementary health insurance, you protect yourself from these additional costs and can also benefit from treatments that are not covered by mandatory health insurance.

Health insurers are free to decide which additional benefits they accept. In addition to the range of benefits, the premiums of different providers also differ considerably. Therefore, it is worth comparing before applying for supplementary health insurance.

Which supplementary insurances are worthwhile?

Which supplementary outpatient insurances make sense? That depends primarily on your circumstances and individual needs. If you need visual aids, for example, you will need to take out supplementary eyeglass insurance, which pays high premiums for glasses, contact lenses and possibly even eye lasers. If you want to supplement conventional medical treatments with alternative medicine, you can also find supplemental insurance specifically for this need. Other additional benefits include voluntary medication payments, rescue and transport costs, treatment costs abroad and preventive medical measures.

You should also take out supplementary dental insurance. Supplementary dental insurance covers part of the cost of dental treatment, correction of misaligned teeth and orthodontic services up to a certain maximum annual amount.

Do you want to cancel your supplementary insurance?

• Please note that when you take out an insurance policy, it can be cancelled after one year.
• For your safety, do not cancel your old supplementary insurance until you have signed a contract with the "new" insurance company. The health insurance company is not obliged to sign a supplementary insurance contract with you. You can refuse the new contract. And you do this, for example, if the insurance company considers you (too) big a risk. For example, applications from people over 50 years of age or people with a certain illness are often not allowed.
• Some insurances have a long insurance period of several years and a long notification period. If you do not cancel the supplementary insurance in time, the specified period will be extended. So inform yourself at the right time for the right notification period.
• If the premium for the supplementary insurance increases, you can cancel it within a certain period of time. Caution: Premium increases provided for in the contract do not result in a special right of termination.
• Please note the notification period! Supplementary insurance contracts are generally valid for one year with a notice period of three months. In this case, the notice of termination must be received by the insurance company by the last working day in September.

What do you need to consider when taking out supplementary insurance?

The benefits and structure of basic insurance are governed by the Federal Health Insurance Act (KVG). On the other hand, the operation of supplementary insurance is governed by the Swiss Insurance Contract Act (LVG). In contrast to the KVG, there is no unconditional licensing requirement for the VVG Switzerland.

This may result in the insurance company refusing to accept you for supplemental insurance. Some health insurance companies require a physical examination before taking out supplementary health insurance.

Additional premiums are based on individual insurance risks and the age and gender of the policyholder.

Basic and supplementary insurance differ in another respect: Supplementary insurance can also be terminated by the health insurance company after an insured event.