Premium Growth Returns Closer to Long-term Average

After the basic insurance premiums were reduced by an average of 1.4 percent in 2022, they rose by 6.6 percent in 2023, by 8.7 percent in 2024, and by 6 percent in 2025. With this year's increase of 4.4 percent, premium growth is once again closer to the long-term average of around 3 percent per year.

Three Reasons for the Premium Increase

According to Comparis health insurance expert Felix Schneuwly, the sharp premium increases of the previous years were the result of politically enforced reductions in reserves. This year, he sees three reasons why premiums are nevertheless rising faster than overall healthcare costs: “Firstly, inflation has an effect only with some delay. For example, when the price of oil rises, petrol quickly becomes more expensive. In contrast, the prices for medications and medical technology products as well as the rates for medical and other healthcare services are adjusted to rising raw material prices and wages with a delay. Thus, the inflation of recent years is only now impacting the premiums.”

Secondly, according to the Comparis expert, more medical services are being consumed, which are covered by basic insurance. “More services have been billed to the health insurance company than before the pandemic, as more people are undergoing examinations due to diffuse complaints,” Schneuwly says.

Thirdly, according to him, more and more new services are being included in basic insurance, such as psychotherapeutic services by psychologists, weight loss injections, podiatry, and caregiving for relatives.

“Dilemma: Everyone Wants More Services, but No One Wants to Pay More”

However, this expansion is also in the interest of the population. “Although the annual premium increases concern many insured persons in Switzerland, the majority do not want cuts in basic insurance services, according to a representative Comparis survey,” Schneuwly says. This is a dilemma: “Everyone wants more services in basic insurance, but no one wants to pay more,” observes the Comparis expert.

Further Information:

Felix Schneuwly
Health Insurance Expert
Phone: 079 600 19 12
E-Mail: media@comparis.ch
comparis.ch

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