Basic insurance analysis: many new customers at Helsana
Every year, Comparis examines the basic insurance portfolio of the largest health insurers in Switzerland. Here you will find the latest results.
17.06.2025
iStock/Scharvik
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 that the winner of last year's change season is the Dübendorf-based Helsana. At the beginning of 2025, the insurer recorded growth of 108,000 insured persons, or 7.6%.
Second place goes to Concordia, an insurer from Lucerne, with a healthy addition of 41,000 new policyholders. The Bern-based Visana Group finished in third place, with the number of people taking out insurance with them rising by 40,500 people.
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 report for 2025 here (not available in English).
2. Which health insurer has lost the most customers?
The largest loss was suffered by KPT, based in Bern. Their customer base shrank by 77,400 policyholders. Groupe Mutuel, based in Martigny, also lost 77,000 policyholders.
In percentage terms, Aquilana recorded the largest decline in the number of policyholders. It has lost over 22,500 policyholders, which equates to 25.5% of its customers.
Over the past five years, Assura has lost the most basic policyholders, with the total standing at 275,000. This corresponds to a loss of 27.9%. However, it gained back 17,000 customers in 2025.
Aquilana shows how not to do it: attract a large number of policyholders with low premiums one year and then lose them again by increasing the premiums massively the next year. After the bloodletting in previous years, Assura has put a halt to the downward spiral and is recording growth again. The example of the former discounter among health insurers shows how much time it takes to reposition oneself with higher premiums and a better level of service quality.
3. Which basic insurance model is most popular in 2025?
An additional Comparis survey shows that only 24% of the adults surveyed in Switzerland said they chose the standard model for their basic insurance.
This number fell significantly in 2024 after the second consecutive shock increase in premiums and was unable to recover in 2025. Previously, the rate was stable at around 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. Some 52% of the people surveyed in 2025 use a model where the first point of contact is a family doctor or group practice. The proportion of people insured with a Telmed model remained mostly stable at 18%.
Compare different solutions
It is unclear whether it's the provider or the model, so it's worth carrying out a comparison when it comes to health insurance.
4. Increasing importance of digital offers
Digital communication channels are increasingly influencing the choice of health insurance model. For example, 54% of the survey respondents consider appointment reminders via SMS or messenger service to be important.
Access via apps in the healthcare sector also indicates the growing interest in digital solutions, with 48% of respondents considering this to be important in 2025.
5. Past basic insurance analyses
The winner of the switching season was the Lucerne-based insurer Concordia. At the beginning of 2024, its growth amounted to 70,800 insured persons, or 11.3%. The provider gained new policyholders in almost every region in Switzerland. Assura, domiciled in Pully (canton of Vaud), suffered massive losses. Their customer base shrank by 115,000 policyholders.
KPT set a record with the addition of 195,100 basic policyholders: a health insurance company has not recorded such a large increase in one go 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, the CSS Group and ÖKK attracted the largest share of new customers for basic insurance. Groupe Mutuel managed to stabilise its portfolio after major losses in recent years. Assura came off worst in the large and medium health insurers category.
Over the last five years, there has been one major loser in the health insurance sector – the Valais-based insurer Groupe Mutuel. It has lost some 304,900 policyholders, which equates to around a quarter of their customers. From 2020 to 2021, the group, headquartered in Martigny (canton of Valais), lost another 15,000 basic insurance policyholders. They still serve 955,000 people.
This article was first published on 17.05.2021
