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HEALTH INSURANCE

What isn’t covered by Switzerland’s compulsory health insurance?

Switzerland’s basic health insurance is among the most expensive in the world, but there are certain services it doesn’t pay for. Here are some of the benefits the scheme won’t cover in full.

Published: 9 March 2022 16:20 CET
Updated: 17 May 2022 13:22 CEST
What isn't covered by Switzerland’s compulsory health insurance?
Basic insurance: You will have to share your hospital room with other patients. Photo: Pixabay

Basic insurance — KVG in German and LaMal in French and Italian —  is compulsory in Switzerland. It doesn’t come cheap, but it is quite comprehensive and includes coverage for illness, medications, tests, maternity, physical therapy, preventive care, and many other treatments.

It also covers accidents for those who do not have accident insurance through their workplace.

Basically, whatever the doctor orders is covered by KVG / LaMal, at least partially.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about health insurance in Switzerland

However, there are some treatments the basic insurance won’t pay for.

Experimental treatments

Any experimental treatments or drugs — that is, those not approved by the Swissmedic regulatory agency or the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) will not be covered.

This exclusion is not specifically Swiss; insurance schemes is most countries won’t cover unauthorised medical treatment either.

Dental care

In most cases, services such as teeth cleaning, dental fillings, root canals, tooth extractions, and orthodontic braces, are not included under basic insurance.

The only exceptions, according to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), are dental interventions “necessitated by a serious disorder of the masticatory system, or if such treatment is required to support and ensure the success of medical treatment for a severe general disorder (e.g. leukaemia, heart-valve replacement)”.

Most dental treatments are not covered. Photo by Pixabay

Eyeglasses and contact lenses

Compulsory health insurance will contribute up to 180 francs per year towards glasses and contact lenses prescribed by an ophthalmologist for children up to the age of 18.

No such benefit exist for adults. However, “in the case of serious visual impairment or certain illnesses (e.g. disease-related refraction abnormalities, postoperative alterations or corneal disease), compulsory health insurance will, regardless of age, make higher contributions towards medically prescribed spectacle and contact lenses”, FOPH says.

READ MORE: Reader question: Can Swiss health insurance exclude me if I have pre-existing conditions?

Ambulance

Emergency vehicles that transport you to a hospital can be quite expensive — depending on the canton, the costs can range from 900 to 2,000 francs per trip. 

Basic health insurance will contribute a certain amount  to the cost of emergency transportation, but only if it is a medical necessity — a serious accident, an illness, or a life-threatening situation. But if the patient could have travelled by private car or public transport, basic health insurance policies will pay nothing.

Insurance will cover some of the cost of ambulance transport only in emergency. Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

Private hospital room

While the cost of your hospitalisation will be fully covered, the basic insurance does not pay for a private room.

You will be accommodated in a room with other patients.

Depending on a medical facility — whether it’s a small hospital or a large, university medical centre, you could end up with just one other person or possibly four or five, the latter being common in teaching hospitals.

If you insist on a private accommodation, you will have to pay for it out of your own pocket.

READ ALSO: Can Swiss health insurance exclude me if I have pre-existing conditions?

Vaccines

Immunisations outlined by FOPH  will be paid for by insurance, as will the Covid vaccine.

Not covered, however, are travel-related vaccinations or preventive measures, such as against yellow fever or malaria.

Treatment abroad

Outside Switzerland, only emergency care is covered  — double the amount that the same treatment would cost in Switzerland.

Usually, basic health insurance will not cover transportation costs back to Switzerland, except in case of emergency, when it will cover 50 percent of the total cost of transportation to the nearest hospital abroad — but no more than 500 francs per year. 

If you only have a basic insurance policy and travel abroad often, especially to the United States, you should take out a travel insurance that will cover you for illness and accidents in foreign countries above and beyond what your Swiss carrier will pay.

And if you want to upgrade your treatment options, consider taking out a supplemental insurance or, if you can afford it, private one.

You can find out more about what KVG / LaMal will and will not cover here.

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For members

HEALTH INSURANCE

How Switzerland’s two crucial health insurance referendums could impact you

The price of Swiss health insurance premiums has been rising significantly in the past few years, prompting political parties to launch two cost-cutting initiatives. The votes will take place in June and there's a lot at stake.

Published: 24 April 2024 15:33 CEST
How Switzerland's two crucial health insurance referendums could impact you

On June 9th, the Swiss will cast their votes on two issues aiming, though in different ways, to curb the continually increasing cost of the obligatory health insurance (KVG / LaMal).

This is what’s at stake.

The ’10-percent’ initiative

In view of the high (and rising) premiums and other costs of living, which eat up a big chunk of the budgets of low- and middle-income consumers, the Social Democratic Party has spearheaded a national vote to cap the insurance rates at 10 percent of income.

Anything over this limit should be paid for by the federal and cantonal government, the party says.

While this strategy may sound enticing to everyone tired of paying high premiums, the government warns that while this proposal looks good on paper, the ‘yes’ vote could unleash some serious consequences.

Its main argument is that this measure would cost several billion francs per year, and does not provide any incentives to control health costs.

Instead, the Federal Council and the parliament have concocted their own ‘counter initiative’ that they want voters to approve.

Under this proposal, cantons will have to increase the amount of financial help they pay toward health premiums for low-income people. 

READ ALSO: How do I apply for health insurance benefits in Switzerland?

‘For Lower Premiums’ initiative

For its part, the Centre party has come up with its own proposal to reduce health insurance costs, which will also be voted on June 9th.

It provides for a ‘brake’ on health costs, which should evolve according to the economy and wages.

This brake would work in the same way as the federal spending brake. Therefore, when healthcare costs exceed wages for a given year by 20 percent, the government must take action to bring the  costs down.

The government is asking voters to turn down the Centre’s proposal because it doesn’t take into account factors such as demography, technological progress in healthcare, as well as the dependence of salaries on economic developments.

Here too, the Federal Council and parliament have put out their own counter-project, providing for more targeted measures, including specific cost control objectives for healthcare services.

Are there any other proposals on the table aiming to curb the cost of insurance premiums?

Yes.

While they are not on the ballot, two ideas have been debated in past months.

One calls for scrapping multiple private carriers  in favour of a government-run single health insurance scheme, similar to that in the EU. 

The other idea floating around is to replace the current system where rates are determined by factors such as age and canton of residence, and base them on wages instead. 

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