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As a student, a new phase of your life begins during your studies, in which you take care of topics such as health insurance or insurance yourself. In this blog we have compiled what students from Switzerland and abroad need to bear in mind when choosing their health insurance.
There is no specific health insurance for students.
In the eyes of the health insurer, you are an adult insured from January 1 following your 18th birthday. This is stipulated by law. This “rate change” means significantly higher health insurance premiums compared to premiums for children. However, young adults – and therefore also students – generally benefit from lower premiums until their 25th birthday.
Switzerland’s healthcare system is based on three pillars:
basic insurance covers the costs of sickness, accident, and maternity. The benefits of this compulsory health insurance are prescribed by law. Insureds pay the costs themselves up to a threshold, the deductible. The deductible can be selected and is between CHF 300 and 2,500 for adults. Once the deductible has been reached, the insurance covers all costs, less a 10 percent co-payment. You can find more information in our blog ”Everything you need to know about deductibles and excesses”.
Not all healthcare costs are covered by basic insurance. These include benefits for glasses, gym memberships, and complementary medicine. Such benefits can be insured with supplementary insurance.
Compulsory accident insurance covers damage resulting from an accident (working and leisure time) or an occupational disease. All employees who work at least eight hours per week per employer are covered by accident insurance through their employer. Persons who are not gainfully employed must take out accident insurance as part of their compulsory basic insurance. This is relevant for full-time students, as you must include accident coverage in your basic insurance.
A representative study by AXA shows that young people know little about their health insurance (in German). This knowledge gap can cost you money. For young adults, there is even more potential for savings on compulsory health insurance in addition to the special rates:
Save on basic insurance by increasing your deductible. With a higher deductible, you initially pay a larger share of the costs of healthcare services yourself, but benefit from lower premiums. The deductible can be increased voluntarily to up to CHF 2,500 – ideal for healthy people who rarely need medical help and have financial reserves.
Although premiums for young adults are comparatively cheap, they vary greatly between the different providers. That’s why it’s worth comparing basic health insurance every year and switching to the cheapest provider. Because, as already explained, the benefits of compulsory basic insurance are the same everywhere.
If students work only a little or not at all during their studies, their monthly income may be so low that they are entitled to a reduced premium. In this case, the canton of residence assumes part of the costs for basic insurance. The list of the relevant cantonal authorities can be found on the federal website.
Many benefits that are particularly popular among young people are not covered by basic insurance. This includes contributions to a sports club or gym membership, as well as a cost contribution to glasses or contact lenses.
With supplementary insurance, you can protect yourself from high medical costs even at a young age and close gaps in basic insurance. Young people often benefit from lower premiums, as these are calculated on the basis of age, among other things.
Students should consider taking out supplementary insurance at an early stage. A sudden illness can make switching supplementary insurance more difficult or impossible. This is because providers are free not to insure certain benefits if you already have illnesses or conditions.
Because students are often not gainfully employed or often work less than eight hours a week for an employer, accident insurance is provided through their health insurance fund.
However, this protection provides significantly lower benefits than private supplementary insurance with accident coverage. It is therefore advisable for students who are not insured through an employer to take out private accident insurance.
In the case of a semester abroad or when studying abroad, the protection of compulsory health insurance remains in effect. However, the cost contribution differs from country to country:
There are also countries with which there is no regulation on compulsory insurance. Here, insureds can apply for a waiver of the obligation to take out insurance if there would be a double burden and equivalent protection is available.
Anyone living or working in Switzerland generally needs Swiss health insurance. However, foreign students are an exception. Under certain conditions, you can apply for a waiver of your insurance obligation. These requirements vary depending on your country of origin:
If the conditions for exemption are not met, foreign students must take out insurance in Switzerland. The same rules apply here as for all other foreign nationals. Read the blog ”New to Switzerland: health insurance information”.
Severin Stillhard is a theme manager who writes texts for AXA on topics related to legal protection, retirement planning and more.
