Health insurance 2025: Between premium pressure and customer expectations
Inside Health Insurance: Data. Reality. Effect.
What do policyholders expect from their health insurance today? The Deloitte study shows that premiums remain the central issue, digital offers are less important and only a few see their provider as a genuine healthcare partner. At the same time, costs, pressure to reform and new technologies are keeping the industry busy. The analysis combines consumer views, expert assessments and hard data - for well-founded insights and concrete approaches for action.
The customer perspective: price pressure meets new expectations
Consumers clearly show what moves them in the current market environment:
- The switching market is omnipresent: Only around 37% of the population has never switched health insurance.
- Premiums remain the critical factor, while digital services or loyalty programmes are less relevant: Around 67% of policyholders switch due to rising premiums. Offers such as digital services and loyalty programmes only convince around 5% of policyholders to stay with their current basic insurance.
- Many are planning to compare premiums again this year, the threshold for doing so lies at CHF 30: Almost half of the population is planning to check or compare their health insurance premiums. If the monthly increase is more than CHF 30, around 72% would consider switching.
- Physical advice and digitalisation remain relevant: More than half of those seeking advice rely on advisors from health insurers. Around 59% of all contracts are concluded via digital channels.
- When it comes to creating a relationship of trust, insurers have room for improvement: Around 43% see their health insurer as a genuine healthcare partner. Only around 31% believe that their health insurer is committed to an affordable healthcare system.
The industry view: experts look to the future
Whether it is the assessment of experts or the annual reports, a complex but also surprisingly clear picture emerges:
- Today – profitability, reforms, healthcare costs: The latest annual reports show the goals and challenges facing health insurers today.
- Future – development of costs, pressure to reform, artificial intelligence as a game changer: The outlook of industry experts for the next five years shows a constant with certain topics that are already present today, but also a development in technologies. Sustainability seems to play a lesser role.
The fact-based categorisation: figures and background information
Both policyholders and the industry are concerned about costs and premiums. Possible background information is provided by current and historical market data:
- In an OECD comparison, Switzerland is as expensive as other Western European countries: Healthcare costs amounted to 11.7% of gross domestic product in 2023. The system of per capita premiums in basic insurance means that the costs are more noticeable for consumers.
- The majority of funding is provided by health insurers: They finance around 45% of healthcare costs in Switzerland, equalling to around CHF 46 billion per year. Particularly noteworthy: the additional costs borne by self-payments, such as for dental treatment or deductibles, are very high in an international comparison and have risen the most in the last five years.
- Premiums for basic health insurance are rising much faster than salaries: This is shown by the basic insurance premium index of 140 compared to the nominal wage index of 110.
- The switching rate remains above average as of 1 January 2025: The consumer survey shows a switching rate of 12% compared to the average of 7.4% since 2017.
- The changes in the customer portfolio in the basic health insurance are very large: Over the last four years, one health insurer has recorded the largest absolute increase in customers (plus 125,000), while another has recorded the largest loss (minus 245,000).
Contact
We are available for in-depth discussions, presentations or project enquiries.
- Dr. Marcel Thom, Partner, Insurance Lead, Switzerland
- Nadia Stucki, Manager, Insurance, Switzerland
- Nicolas Himmelspach, Manager, Insurance, Switzerland
