Changing health insurer: the deadlines to meet and the mistakes to avoid

Changing health insurer follows fixed rules, and most rejected terminations fall down on one detail: the date that counts is not the date of posting but the date of receipt. The termination must reach the insurer within the deadline, during office hours. The postmark counts for nothing.

The main deadline is 30 November, for a change taking effect on 1 January. Insurers must communicate new premiums by 31 October and inform policyholders of their right to terminate. That leaves four weeks to decide.

The second deadline, which applies only to some

There is a second window, effective from 1 July with three months' notice: the termination must arrive by 31 March. It applies only to basic insurance with the ordinary deductible, namely 300 francs for adults and no deductible for minors, and with free choice of healthcare provider.

Anyone who has chosen a higher deductible, between 500 and 2,500 francs for adults and between 100 and 600 francs for minors, cannot use this window. The same applies to models with a restricted network of doctors, such as HMO, family doctor or telemedicine models, and to bonus programmes. For these arrangements a change is only possible at the end of the year.

Deductible and obstacles

Changing the deductible also takes effect on 1 January and must be communicated to the insurer by 30 November. It is best treated as a decision separate from switching insurer, because the two processes follow distinct paths even when started together.

One obstacle can block everything: unpaid premiums. Anyone still in debt to their insurer on 31 December cannot move to another. Arrears are settled first, then the switch takes place.

Conversely, no insurer may turn a person down for basic insurance, whether on grounds of age or health, and none may impose reservations or waiting periods. For supplementary insurance, which is a contract of a different nature, this guarantee does not exist: which is why it is sensible to wait for confirmation of the new supplementary policy before cancelling the existing one.

In Ticino the question carries more weight than elsewhere, because the canton still has the highest spending per insured person in Switzerland and premium differences between insurers involve substantial sums.