Health insurance premium regions: what applies in which canton?
The premium for health insurance depends among other things on where you live. Depending on the municipality, you are come under a different premium region. Comparis answers the key questions.
11.07.2022
iStock / Michael Derrer Fuchs
1. Why are there premium regions?
The health care costs within a canton that are relevant to health insurance premiums differ greatly in some cases. Dividing the canton into several premium regions enables health insurance companies to set premiums at different levels in the same canton.
In addition, maximum permissible differences in premiums between the regions apply:
The premiums of regions 1 and 2 may not differ by more than 15%.
The premium differences between region 2 and region 3 may not exceed 10%.
The maximum permissible premium differences apply even if the cost differences are greater in reality.
Example of premium differences
In 2022, the average adult premium in the city of Zurich is CHF 394.20, while in Wiesendangen, insureds pay only CHF 332.90. What's the reason for this? Zurich is located in premium region 1, and Wiesendangen in premium region 3.
2. How many premium regions are there per canton?
There are a maximum of three premium regions per canton. The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) is responsible for the division into regions. The health insurance companies may regard a canton as one premium region even if the FOPH envisages several regions for the canton.
Which premium region does my municipality belong to?
You can find out which region your municipality belongs to in the current overview of the regions of the FOPH.
3. How many premium regions are there in which canton?
The table below gives an overview of how many premium regions the health insurance companies may divide the respective canton into.
| Canton | Region | Canton | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aargau | One region | Nidwalden | One region |
| Appenzell Innerrhoden | One region | Obwalden | One region |
| Appenzell Ausserrhoden | One region | St. Gallen | Three regions |
| Bern | Three regions | Schaffhausen | Three regions |
| Basel Landschaft | Two regions | Solothurn | One region |
| Basel-Stadt | One region | Schwyz | One region |
| Fribourg | Two regions | Thurgau | One region |
| Geneva | One region | Ticino | Two regions |
| Glarus | One region | Uri | One region |
| Graubünden | Three regions | Vaud | Two regions |
| Jura | One region | Valais | Two regions |
| Lucerne | Three regions | Zug | One region |
| Neuchâtel | One region | Zurich | Three regions |
4. Do city-dwellers subsidize the lower premiums of the rural population?
In rural areas, health costs per person are generally lower than in urban areas. This often leads to the assumption that the urban population subsidizes the premiums of the rural population.
However, where the rural or urban population receives medical services does not play a role in recording health costs. All costs relevant for the calculation of premiums are related to where the insured person lives.
