To change your health insurer for 1 January, your written cancellation must reach the insurer by the end of November — arriving, not posted. Basic cover is identical by law at every insurer, so you are only ever buying price and service. This is the one annual decision with a hard deadline and a saving you can repeat every year.
The saving is not small. Eini's own indicative working figures put an adult monthly premium at about CHF 338 in Nidwalden and Obwalden against about CHF 453 in Geneva — roughly CHF 1'380 a year apart for legally identical cover.
When exactly does the cancellation have to arrive
The insurer must have your written cancellation in hand by the end of November. Posting it on the 30th does not count: what matters is the date it arrives, which is why a registered letter is the normal way to send it. A cancellation that lands in time takes effect on 1 January.
The calendar repeats. Premiums for the coming year are published in the autumn, leaving roughly two months to compare, decide and post. Miss the window and you are locked into your current insurer, model and franchise for another twelve months.
The detail that catches people out: this is an arrival deadline, not a postmark deadline. Send the letter by registered post in the third week of November at the latest, and keep the receipt.
For the basic policy there is no health screening: every insurer must accept every applicant, whatever your age or medical history. Even so, do not cancel until the new insurer has confirmed cover in writing. Health insurance is compulsory, and a gap between two policies is not a problem worth creating.
Why the cover itself is identical everywhere
Basic insurance (KVG/LAMal) is defined in federal law. The catalogue of covered treatments, the medicines list and the hospital rules are the same whether you pay CHF 338 or CHF 453 a month. No insurer can add a benefit to the basic policy, or drop one to make it cheaper.
So what differs? Price first. Then service: how quickly invoices come back reimbursed, whether the portal works, and which alternative models the insurer offers where you live. Those are the only differences left to weigh once the premium is in front of you.
What do the four models actually ask of you
Every insurer sells the same basic cover through up to four model families, each trading a piece of your freedom of choice for a lower premium. The discount is only worth taking if you will genuinely do what it asks.
Standard lets you walk into any practice in Switzerland. Hausarzt (family doctor) means you name one practice and always go there first; referrals come from them. HMO means you register with a specific group practice or health centre and start every episode of care there. Telmed means you phone the insurer's medical hotline before treatment and follow its advice.
| Model | How it works in practice | What you give up | Typical premium effect | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | Any licensed doctor in Switzerland. No first-contact rule, no call before an appointment. | Nothing. This is the full free-choice model. | Reference premium, no discount. | People who already see several specialists, or who value choice above the saving. |
| Hausarzt (family doctor) | You register one GP practice and always go there first. They refer you onward. | Direct access to specialists — you need the referral first. | Roughly 8–12% under the standard premium. | Households that already have a GP they know and use. |
| HMO | You register with a named group practice or health centre and start every treatment there. | Free choice of practice, and you are tied to one location. | Roughly 12–18% under the standard premium. | Urban households living close to an HMO centre. |
| Telmed | You call the insurer's medical hotline before treatment and follow its instruction. Emergencies and some routine checks are usually exempt; exceptions differ by contract. | Going straight to a doctor on your own initiative. | Roughly 12–20% under the standard premium. | People who rarely see a doctor and do not mind a phone triage first. |
Read the contract before taking the biggest discount. Under Telmed you must call first; under HMO and Hausarzt you must start in the right place. Skipping that step can mean the insurer declines to cover the treatment, or moves you back to the standard premium at renewal.
As a rule of thumb, pick the model that matches how you already behave. If you have never phoned a hotline before booking a doctor, the Telmed discount is a saving you will break within the year.
How much does your canton change the premium
A great deal, and you do not get to choose. The premium follows your canton of residence — and inside larger cantons, your premium region. You cannot buy a Nidwalden premium while living in Geneva.
Eini's own indicative working figures for an adult monthly premium run from about CHF 338 in Nidwalden and Obwalden, through CHF 396 in Zurich, Bern and Valais, up to CHF 421 in Basel-Stadt and Vaud, CHF 428 in Neuchâtel and about CHF 453 in Geneva. Cheapest to dearest, that is roughly CHF 115 a month — close to CHF 1'380 a year — for the same legal product.
Two things follow. The premium is charged per adult, not per household: a Geneva couple carries around CHF 2'760 a year more than a couple in Nidwalden. And if you are weighing a move, the premium belongs in the same column as rent and the tax rate, just as grocery price differences between cantons belong in the monthly budget.
How the franchise and the 10% retention fit together
Adults choose a franchise of CHF 300, 500, 1'000, 1'500, 2'000 or 2'500. You pay covered costs yourself up to that amount. Above it you still pay a 10% retention on what the insurance covers, and that retention is capped at CHF 700 a year for adults.
Put the two together and your worst year has a ceiling. On the minimum franchise: CHF 300 + CHF 700 = CHF 1'000 in treatment costs on top of your premiums. On the maximum: CHF 2'500 + CHF 700 = CHF 3'200. The distance between those ceilings is CHF 2'200 — the figure to hold against whatever premium discount the higher franchise buys you.
Worked through as an example: say the higher franchise cuts your premium by CHF 120 a month. You save CHF 1'440 over the year and expose yourself to at most CHF 2'200 more in costs. Whether that trade is sensible depends on the treatment you expect. This is general information about how the Swiss system works, not individual advice — your canton, municipality and situation change the numbers.
What to check before you send the cancellation
The expensive mistake is cancelling supplementary insurance by accident. Supplementary cover (VVG/LCA) — semi-private hospital, dental, complementary medicine, travel — is a separate contract with its own notice period, often three months to the end of the year and sometimes longer. It is also the one part of Swiss health insurance where an insurer can say no: applications are health-screened, and existing conditions can be excluded or surcharged.
Never put both cancellations in the same envelope. Cancel the basic policy, leave the supplementary contract where it is, and move that only once a new insurer has accepted you in writing. Give supplementary cover up in your fifties and you may not get it back.
Then work through the sequence. It takes one evening a year — the annual equivalent of the monthly grocery audit that keeps a food budget honest.
- Open the autumn premium letter. It states next year's premium for your current model and franchise. That is your baseline.
- Compare before deciding anything. Enter your canton, year of birth, franchise and model in the official Priminfo comparison and read the whole list.
- Settle the franchise and the model first. They move the premium more than the insurer does, and they are the levers you control.
- Apply to the new insurer and wait for written confirmation that cover begins on 1 January.
- Send the cancellation by registered post so that it arrives well before the end of November. Keep the delivery receipt.
- Leave supplementary policies untouched unless you have separately checked their notice period and secured a replacement.
- Diarise next year now: a reminder in early October when premiums land, and a hard stop in mid-November.
An hour spent on this beats almost any other household saving — considerably more than the few francs a month that cashback apps return, and it costs you one letter.
What Eini is building for insurance
Insurance is Phase 5 of Eini's roadmap and it is being built now — it is not available yet. The module will compare premiums for your canton, age, franchise and model, and store every policy you hold together with its renewal date and its cancellation deadline. A dashboard will show total spend across all of them, alert you before each deadline and flag gaps in cover. A franchise calculator will return the cheapest level for the medical spend you expect. Live today is Phase 1 only: groceries and meal planning.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the deadline to change health insurance in Switzerland?
Your written cancellation must reach the insurer by the end of November for the change to take effect on 1 January. The date that counts is the date it arrives, not the date you post it, so send it by registered mail with time to spare.
Is basic health insurance really the same at every Swiss insurer?
Yes. The covered treatments, the medicines list and the hospital rules for basic cover (KVG/LAMal) are set in federal law and identical everywhere. Only the premium, the service and the alternative models on offer differ.
Which health insurance model is the cheapest?
Telmed and HMO usually carry the largest discounts, the family doctor model a smaller one, and the standard model none. The cheapest model on paper is only the cheapest in practice if you follow its rule — calling the hotline first, or always starting at your registered practice.
Can I cancel my supplementary insurance at the same time as the basic policy?
Treat them as two separate decisions. Supplementary cover is a separate contract with its own notice period, often longer than the basic one, and a new insurer can refuse you or exclude existing conditions on health grounds. Move it only once a replacement is confirmed in writing.
Does Eini compare health insurance?
Not yet. Insurance is Phase 5 of Eini's roadmap. The module being built will compare premiums by canton, age, franchise and model, store your policies with their cancellation deadlines, alert you before each one, and calculate the cheapest franchise for your expected medical costs. What is live today is Phase 1: groceries and meal planning.
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