Ticino remains the canton where basic health insurance costs most

The costs of compulsory health insurance rose by 0.4 per cent year on year in the second quarter of 2026. Average spending per insured person in Switzerland stood at 4,834 francs, 21 francs more than twelve months earlier. This is the figure the Federal Office of Public Health publishes each quarter, covering the period from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026.

The first warning comes from the office itself: the figure is understated. A new billing system for outpatient medical services came into force on 1 January, and the changeover slowed the transmission of hospital invoices. Costs that have been incurred are not yet booked. The office writes that it is currently impossible to predict when these delays will be made up, which means real growth is higher than today's numbers show.

The Ticino gap

The comparison between cantons is the part that most directly concerns people living in Ticino. Spending per insured person here is 5,886 francs, or 1,052 francs above the national average: the highest value in Switzerland. At the other end sits Appenzell Innerrhoden with 3,567 francs, little more than half. Between one canton and another, the cost of the same package of compulsory services thus varies by over two thousand francs per person, a difference that feeds through to premiums.

Broken down by item, outpatient treatment by doctors remains the largest component at 1,101 francs per insured person, followed by medicines at 913 francs and inpatient hospital care at 899. Almost every category is rising, with two increases standing out: home care, up 14.9 per cent, and psychotherapy, up 10.9 per cent.

Neither of those two items reads in only one way. Home care costs the system more than before, but partly replaces hospital days that would cost more still; psychotherapy has also risen because since 2022 it can be billed directly to basic insurance without going through a psychiatrist. In both cases the growth in spending records a change in how care is delivered, not simply a price increase.