Basic health insurance analysis: Assura loses customers
Every year, Comparis examines the basic insurance portfolio of the largest health insurers in Switzerland. Here you’ll find the latest results.
29.05.2024
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1. Which health insurer had the strongest customer growth?
Comparis examines the portfolio of basic policyholders at the largest Swiss health insurers on an annual basis. The analysis reveals: last year’s winner is the Lucerne-based insurer Concordia. At the beginning of 2024, their growth amounted to 70,800 insured persons, or 11.3%.
“With growth thanks to moderate premium increases in almost all regions of Switzerland, Concordia is the biggest surprise of the last health insurance season,” says Comparis health expert Felix Schneuwly.
Second place goes to Groupe Mutuel, an insurer from the canton of Valais, with 63,000 new policyholders. The Zurich-based health insurance company Sanitas ranks third, with an increase of 40,000 insured persons.
Comparis basic health insurance analysis
Comparis regularly analyses the basic insurance offered by the major health insurers in Switzerland. This also includes how many people choose to change insurers, and who they switch to. Read the full 2024 report here (in German).
2. Which health insurer has lost the most customers?
Assura, domiciled in Pully (VD), suffered massive losses. Their customer base shrank by 115,000 policyholders.
Since the beginning of 2019, the former budget insurer has lost 320,000 basic health insurance customers. This corresponds to a loss of 31.5%.
When an insurer loses customers who only are only concerned with low premiums, yet this insurer does not want to spend any money on acquiring new customers, there is no choice but to invest in good quality service to boost customer loyalty. It remains to be seen how many net customers Assura will lose in the next few years.
3. Which basic insurance model was most popular in 2024?
An additional Comparis survey shows: only 24% of adults surveyed in Switzerland say they choose the standard model for their basic insurance.
This number fell significantly as of 2024 after the second consecutive premium shock (from a previously stable 30%).
More people now choose family doctor and HMO models
According to the survey, there was a significant increase in demand for family doctor and HMO models. 53% use a model where the first point of contact is a family doctor or group practice in 2024. The share of people insured with a Telmed model remained mostly stable, at 18%.
“Significant premium increases are also causing more policyholders to save on premiums with an alternative insurance model,” notes Schneuwly.
Compare different solutions
Whether you’re thinking about a new provider or a different model: when it comes to health insurance, it’s worth comparing.
4. Past basic insurance analyses
The health insurer KPT has set a record with 195,100 additional basic insurance customers: no health insurance company has recorded such a large increase since the introduction of mandatory basic insurance in 1996. The industry leaders are the losers this year, such as Assura and Helsana.
At the beginning of 2022, CSS Group and ÖKK attracted the largest share of new customers for basic insurance. Groupe Mutuel has managed to stabilize its customer base after major losses in recent years. Assura came off worst in the large and medium health insurers category.
In the last five years, there has been a big loser in the health insurance scene: the Valais-based insurer, Groupe Mutuel. They have lost some 304,900 policyholders, around a quarter of their customers. From 2020 to 2021, the group, headquartered in Martigny (VS), lost another 15,000 basic insurance policyholders. They still serve 955,000 people.
This article was first published on 17.05.2021
