Changing health insurance while undergoing treatment: is it possible?
Are you currently undergoing medical treatment and would like to change your health insurance provider? It’s possible, but there are some things you should be aware of. Comparis explains.
10.11.2025
iStock/RichLegg
1. Changing health insurance while undergoing treatment: am I allowed?
Whether or not you can switch your health insurance during ongoing treatment depends on the type of insurance. This is because different laws apply to basic and supplemental insurance.
Can I switch basic insurance despite being ill?
In principle, you are always able to switch basic insurance before the deadline. This means that changing health insurance is also possible while undergoing treatment.
However, if you have outstanding debts with your health insurer, you can’t change your health insurance provider. This applies to all debts with a reminder unpaid by 30 November. You can only change your basic insurance once you have paid these debts in full.
Be careful with supplemental insurance when changing health insurance during treatment
It’s important to exercise care when changing supplemental insurance during ongoing treatment. Unlike basic insurance, insurers are not required to accept applications in the case of supplemental insurance. Therefore, the insurer may deny your policy application for supplemental insurance.
Some supplemental insurance policies also exclude certain treatments in the contract – depending on your answers to the health questions. So you may be accepted for supplemental insurance, but you won’t receive cover for certain treatments.
Find a new supplemental insurance policy
Comparis tip: don’t cancel your current supplemental insurance until you have received a definitive confirmation from the new insurer – preferably without any reservations. With the Comparis health insurance comparison tool, you can easily compare the premiums and benefits for supplemental insurance.
2. Changing health insurance with an ongoing coverage commitment
If you want to change your health insurance during treatment, you should be careful with ongoing coverage commitments. This is because the new health insurer may assess the need for treatment differently. It does not have to agree with the assessment of the old health insurer.
It can also take a lot of effort to obtain a coverage commitment. For some treatments, for example, you must prove that only the therapy with the coverage commitment is effective. In some cases, the severity and frequency of the symptoms must also be documented.
Good to know: changing the deductible with the same health insurer will not affect the coverage commitment.
In principle, the benefits of basic insurance are regulated uniformly – all health insurers therefore pay the same benefits. In some cases, however, treatment may be necessary that is not included in the catalogue of benefits. These include treatments with medicinal products that:
are on the list of pharmaceutical specialities, but for another specialist area (Art. 71a HIO).
are approved by Swissmedic, but are not on the list of pharmaceutical specialities (Art. 71b HIO).
are imported and not approved by Swissmedic (Art. 71c HIO).
If the health insurer issues a coverage commitment, it will pay for these costs. In order for the insurer to issue the coverage commitment, an independent medical examiner must agree with the treatment (Art. 71d HIO).
The treatment must also be medically necessary. In other words, the coverage commitment is only granted if other treatments are not effective.
Good to know: coverage commitments are also possible for benefits that do not relate to medicines. For example, if you need a coverage commitment for medical rehabilitation. A coverage commitment is also necessary for long-term treatments such as psychotherapy and physiotherapy.
3. What do I need to be aware of when changing health insurance during treatment?
Are you changing your health insurer for the new year while undergoing medical treatment? If so, take note of your treatment date. Your current health insurer must provide cover for all treatment up until the end of the year. This is also the case even if the bills do not arrive until in the new year.
3. Treatments over the turn of the year: what applies to out-of-pocket expenses?
You pay out-of-pocket expenses annually. The treatment date is always decisive. The connection between the treatments does not matter here. The date the treatment is prescribed or billed is also irrelevant.
Are you undergoing treatment at the end of the year, for example because of a hospital stay? Treatment then falls under both the old and the new year’s deductible. This means that all costs until the end of the year still count towards the old deductible. All costs from 1 January are allocated to the new deductible.
It is therefore possible that you pay the maximum out-of-pocket expenses of the year twice in a row. For this reason, in non-urgent cases, don’t undergo treatment over the turn of the year.
5. FAQs on switching health insurance during ongoing treatment
Yes, you can switch health insurance during ongoing treatment. The basic insurance provider must always accept you in any case.
However, supplemental insurance providers may reject you or apply reservations to your policy. So, don’t cancel your current supplemental insurance until you have received confirmation of unconditional acceptance from your new insurer.
Important: In the worst case, you will have to pay the total out-of-pocket expenses of both years in the event of treatment that runs from the old year to the new year. This is because the out-of-pocket expenses are incurred on an annual basis – regardless of whether treatment is contiguous.
As a rule, you can switch health insurance during therapy. No new prescription from your doctor is required to continue the course of psychotherapy. However, there may be different regulations depending on the canton.
Do you have a coverage commitment due to a long course of therapy? Then you also need a new coverage commitment from the new insurer. The old coverage commitment does not apply to the new health insurer.
You can switch basic insurance despite chronic illness. Health insurers are obliged to accept everyone who applies for basic insurance. But the new health insurer does not have to take over the coverage commitments and may reassess the situation.
Supplemental insurance providers may, however, reject you or apply reservations to your policy. So, don’t cancel your current supplemental insurance policy until you have received confirmation of unconditional acceptance from your new insurer.
This article was first published on 05.08.2022
