Questions about the Comparis health insurance comparison tool

Comparis is an independent online comparison service. Comparis finances its health insurance comparison service by selling advertising space, such as banners, on its website. Health insurers cannot purchase a better position in the results table.

Felix Schneuwly Foto
Felix Schneuwly

19.01.2024

Two people compare their health insurance deals.

iStock/filadendron

1. Can providers buy a better position in the ranking?

Consumers often ask how Comparis finances its health insurance comparison service and whether insurers can buy themselves a prominent position in the results list.

The comparison service is free of charge for Comparis users. No health insurer can pay to secure itself a better position. Ad placements are always clearly marked as such and look very different to the other results.

2. How much do Comparis and Optimatis earn from the health insurance comparison service?

In 2023, Comparis generated sales revenue of some 10.2 million francs from its health insurance comparison service for basic insurance. It is significantly cheaper for health insurers to acquire their customers online than to use advertising, competitions, sponsorship and so on to obtain the contact details of prospective customers in order to arrange consultations.

Comparis is paid for advertising services, e.g. advertising elements, impressions and clicks on the results page – similar to Google. Optimatis receives compensation for quote orders and signed contracts in accordance with the Industry Agreement on Intermediaries (BVV) of health insurers. This adds up to a total of around 50 francs per basic insurance quote.

Health insurance companies refrain from cold calling. However, that doesn’t prevent dubious call centres from calling all possible number combinations.

If these cold-callers are lucky, someone will answer, perhaps take part in a survey or competition, and then let themselves be talked into a consultation appointment.

3. Does the service offered by Comparis push up costs in the system?

The quote process of Optimatis, the brokerage partner of Comparis, is efficient and automated. This reduces administration costs for health insurers. Health insurance companies compensate Optimatis for the use of this quote request system.

As an insurance intermediary recognized and licensed by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma), Optimatis employees are also allowed to advise interested parties and support them up to signing an insurance contract.

Being compared in this way puts health insurers under greater pressure to offer cheaper premiums and maintain a high level of customer satisfaction. Comparis also compares these factors, not just the premiums.

It also forces insurers to focus on increasing the efficiency of their administrative activities, for example, without compromising on the quality of their service.

4. How does Comparis differ from a broker?

The cost of the service offered by Comparis is comparable with advertising on Google and should not be confused with acquisition commission. Comparis provides a passive source of information for people who are interested in it. Comparis does not offer home consultations.

Unlike a broker, Comparis is not restricted to particular insurance companies. In fact, the opposite is true: Comparis is committed to delivering a complete overview of the market. The users themselves then decide which deal best fits their requirements.

5. How legitimate are other online premium comparison tools?

Websites promising fast health insurance comparisons crop up on a regular basis. These websites often have only one aim: to gather the address details of people seeking to switch insurance and then pass them on to brokers.

So before divulging any personal details, take a look at the legal notice on the website.

6. Can a health insurer reject me?

Insurers are obliged to accept all applications for mandatory basic health insurance. No insurer may refuse you. This applies regardless of the frequency that you change health insurance providers, your age, or your health status.

All insurers must offer the same benefits for mandatory basic insurance. You can find out more here: Basic insurance – benefits under mandatory health insurance (KVG/LAMal). Unlike with basic insurance, health insurers are not obliged to accept applications for supplemental insurance.

Do you want to switch to a health insurer that does not accept online quote requests via Optimatis? In this case, you can notify the respective insurers of your intentions in writing by registered post – one letter cancelling your current insurance, and one applying to the new insurer. The insurers must receive their letter by 30 November at the latest, so that the change will be valid from 1 January of the following year.

7. Can I combine basic and supplemental insurance in one comparison?

Yes, at comparis.ch you can combine basic and supplemental health insurance in the same calculation. It is possible to take out basic and supplemental insurance with different providers. Some providers charge an additional fee for higher administrative expenses for supplemental insurance in such cases.

Comparis recommends choosing an affordable provider for basic insurance at least, because all insurers offer the same medical cover. You should therefore choose your basic insurance provider based primarily on the premium and level of customer satisfaction.

Since supplemental insurance policies vary considerably with respect to the medical services covered by individual products, it is especially important to check the details.

8. Does frequently switching health insurance lead to increased healthcare costs?

No. Since the process of switching insurance at comparis.ch is automated and electronic, insurance companies save on advertising, marketing, personnel, paper and postage costs. In any case, administrative costs only constitute around 5% of the premium volume.

Factors that do drive up costs are increased consumption of medical services, the rising cost of bureaucracy owing to misguided government incentives with respect to financing, and medical advancement itself.

9. Which is better – competitive or national health insurance?

Is the competition among health insurers ultimately cheaper than having a monopoly? Swiss voters have answered yes to this question three times already, thereby rejecting national health insurance. A fourth attempt failed to reach the 100,000 signatures required for a popular initiative to be put to the vote.

However, as the question keeps being asked and will no doubt be voted on a fourth time at some point in the future, Comparis favours conducting a national health insurance test in a large canton first. This would then be compared with the competitive health insurance market in the rest of Switzerland. This shows that Comparis clearly places the interests of consumers before its own business interests.

FAQS

If the premium shown does not correspond to what you are currently paying for basic insurance, this may be because you have:

  • a different deductible,

  • other/additional accident cover,

  • another insurance model (e.g. standard basic insurance, family doctor, HMO, etc.),

  • a premium from which the premium reduction has already been deducted, or

  • a premium from which the environmental incentive tax has already been deducted.

There could also be a mistake, of course. If none of the above possibilities apply, we would be happy to investigate the matter further. For this we would need the following information:

  • your place of residence (postcode and town),

  • your year of birth,

  • your current health insurance provider,

  • your insurance model,

  • the selected deductible,

  • whether you require accident coverage or not,

  • and the discrepant premium.

Thank you for your assistance.

You may not have the latest version of PDF Viewer. It can be downloaded from the Adobe website. You will soon receive the quote by email. Please check your inbox.

You can easily lower or raise your deductible with effect from the end of the year.

Lowering your deductible

You must notify the health insurer in writing of the desired lower deductible by 30 November or by the last working day in November (the day the insurance company receives the letter is relevant).

Increasing your deductible

You must notify your health insurer of the desired higher deductible by 31 December or by the last working day in December.

No. All health insurers must accept you for basic insurance without any exclusions, irrespective of your age or state of health. You should only complete a questionnaire with health-related questions if you want to take out supplemental insurance.

Yes, you are required to answer questions about your state of health for supplemental insurance. You usually have to inform the insurer of your medical conditions and treatments in the last five years.

The questions and their number differ from one health insurer to the next. We can’t tell you whether some insurers ask fewer questions about your health than others. Read more about this in our article on Rejection of an application for supplemental insurance.

Basic insurance

For termination as of 31 December, the termination letter (registered letter) must reach the former health insurance company by 30 November or the last working day of November. This is the final deadline, no matter if your new premium is higher, lower or remains unchanged.

For termination as of 30 June, the termination letter (registered letter) must reach the former health insurance company by 31 March or the last working day of March. This only applies to policyholders with a deductible of CHF 300 (children: CHF 0) and a standard basic insurance policy (no alternative insurance models such as HMO or Telmed). In all other cases, changing to a new insurance provider is possible only for the end of the calendar year.

Click here to prepare your cancellation letter.

Supplemental insurance

The provisions stated in the insurance conditions apply (e.g. one month from notification of higher premiums or per year end).

For unchanged premiums

Cancellation deadlines for supplemental insurance

This depends on the length of your service. In Art. 3 Para. 4 of the Federal Health Insurance Act (KVG), it says: “Persons who are subject to the Federal Act of 19 June 1992 on Military Insurance (MVG) for more than 60 consecutive days are exempt from mandatory health insurance.”

This means that you don’t have to pay premiums for mandatory basic insurance when serving for longer periods of time. You only need to send your health insurance provider proof of the length of your military service (i.e. submit a copy of your marching orders).

The basic insurance comparison tool lists the premiums of all health insurance providers.

You can request a quote online from those providers who offer this service in collaboration with Optimatis, the brokerage partner of Comparis. Certain health insurance companies do not offer this option. This might be because they are not interested in growth, they use other sales channels, or do not have the necessary technical infrastructure, for example.

This article was first published on 09.12.2021

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