Swiss residents are satisfied with their health insurance companies, according to a survey published on Thursday by the comparison service moneyland.ch. The survey shows that it is not the health insurance benefits that are criticised, but instead the premiums.
Out of the 1,538 individuals surveyed, most rated their health insurance company on average with 7.9 out of ten points. This corresponds with a grade “good”, according to moneyland.ch. The insured individuals were most satisfied with the friendliness of the employees at the insurance companies, as well as the clarity of the statements and reported being generally satisfied. In French-speaking Switzerland, satisfaction is slightly lower than in German-speaking Switzerland. The comparison service attributes the lower satisfaction to higher premiums in the French-speaking region.
According to the press release, the cost-benefit analysis received the most criticism: the younger the surveyed individual, the less satisfied they reported to be with the cost-benefit of the health insurance premium. The study by moneyland.ch states that this could be attributed to the fact that older people are more likely to receive health insurance benefits than younger people. This could lead to younger people having the impression that they are paying for something they do not need, the study says.
In the survey, the health insurance companies Swica (8.4 points), KPT (8.3 points) as well as Helsana and ÖKK (8.1 points each) scored best. Assura came in last place with 6.9 points.
If you are below a certain taxable income you get a reduction to premiums, which is pretty nice. This happens automatically based on your last tax report, so it’s not a case of aid being available, but not being used because people don’t know about it or are too shy to ask for it.
Obviously this doesn’t solve the problem of rising premiums / health costs, but at least it helps people with small incomes.