Swiss basic health-insurance premiums are expected to rise by an average of 3.7% in 2027, according to forecasts by Comparis. After a 4.4% increase in 2026, costs are set to keep climbing, says Felix Schneuwly, the company’s health-insurance expert.
Global economic conditions remain a key risk. “Premiums depend not only on the cost of insured services, but also on investment income from health insurers’ reserves,” says Mr Schneuwly. “Last year, despite geopolitical uncertainty, returns reached 5.4%, or CHF 807m, well above the ten-year average of around 1.6%. That could quickly reverse.”
Zurich, May 12th 2026 — Swiss policyholders may finally see some relief. Comparis expects average premiums to rise by “only” 3.7% in 2027.
That would mark a further slowdown after a series of steep increases: 6.6% in 2023, 8.7% in 2024 and 6% in 2025, followed by 4.4% in 2026. Mr Schneuwly argues that those earlier shocks were not driven by unusually rapid growth in healthcare costs. Instead, they reflected politically mandated reductions in insurers’ reserves and years of underpriced premiums between 2019 and 2022, which forced insurers to rebuild their balance-sheets.
The capital market impact
Investment returns could again become a factor in premium-setting. Swiss health insurers rely not only on premium income but also on returns from invested reserves. Last year’s strong performance helped cushion costs. A downturn in financial markets could have the opposite effect.
Tardoc seen as a manageable risk
Comparis also believes that the introduction of Tardoc, Switzerland’s new tariff system for outpatient medical services, poses less risk than feared. Tardoc replaced Tarmed on January 1st 2026 after more than two decades in use. Approval for the new system currently runs until the end of 2028, allowing time for adjustments if reimbursement levels prove inconsistent with health-insurance law.
Early data remain incomplete. Around 40% of hospitals only recently began submitting invoices under the new system, making first-quarter figures difficult to interpret, says Mr Schneuwly. Even so, he argues that tighter cost-control rules should prevent runaway spending. Under federal rules, tariffs must be cut if costs rise by more than 2.5% annually without a clear justification, such as the addition of new services. “That automatic correction mechanism did not exist under Tarmed,” he says.
Expanding coverage keeps pushing costs higher
Comparis bases its forecasts partly on estimates from the KOF Swiss Economic Institute at ETH Zurich. The institute estimates that total Swiss healthcare spending grew by 3.7% in 2025 and will rise by 3.6% in 2026 and 3.5% in 2027.
Hospitals, once a major driver of cost inflation, have recently helped moderate spending growth as deficits narrowed. But inflation continues to feed through into higher wages and procurement costs, pushing tariffs upward with a lag.
A long-term shift from inpatient to outpatient care is still reducing costs overall. At the same time, implementation of Switzerland’s nursing-care initiative is expected to increase spending.
According to monitoring data from the Federal Office of Public Health, costs rose across all categories of care last year. The sharpest increase came from outpatient nursing and home-care providers, where costs jumped by 13% to CHF 173 per insured person. Psychotherapy provided by psychologists rose by 9.8%, reaching CHF 86 per insured person.
Mr Schneuwly notes that the share of healthcare costs covered by mandatory insurance is rising slightly faster than overall healthcare spending because the list of treatments covered keeps expanding. Recent additions include psychologist-led psychotherapy, weight-loss injections and care provided by relatives.
More on this:
Comparis article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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