curafutura

What is curafutura?

curafutura was an industry association of Swiss health insurers. The association represented its members in health policy, negotiated tariffs with doctors, hospitals and other service providers, and concluded agreements for the whole industry. curafutura was not a health insurer: the association did not insure anyone and did not pay any bills.

For many years, Switzerland had two associations of health insurers: curafutura and santésuisse. They represented different insurers and often took different positions, especially on the outpatient medical tariff. This split ended in 2024. The insurers decided on a joint association and, for reasons of cost and efficiency, built it legally on the existing curafutura association. curafutura received new articles of association and was renamed “prio.swiss – The association of Swiss health insurers”. Since 18.12.2024, prio.swiss has been curafutura’s legal successor, and since 01.01.2025 the association has operated under its new name.

Anyone searching for curafutura today will therefore mostly come across older documents: tariff agreements, position papers or the industry agreement on insurance intermediation. These documents have not become invalid. curafutura’s rights and obligations have passed to prio.swiss.

How it works

In health insurance, an industry association of insurers has three important tasks.

Negotiating tariffs. The prices for basic health insurance benefits are agreed in tariff agreements between insurers and service providers or, if no agreement is reached, set by the authorities. If a tariff agreement applies throughout Switzerland, it requires the approval of the Federal Council. curafutura and the Swiss Medical Association (FMH) were the contracting parties to the framework agreement on the fee-for-service tariff TARDOC. On 31.10.2024, the FMH, H+, curafutura and santésuisse signed a joint tariff agreement on TARDOC and the outpatient flat rates. The Federal Council partially approved it on 30.04.2025; the new tariff system has applied since 01.01.2026. Today prio.swiss appears in the agreement in place of curafutura and santésuisse.

Agreeing rules for the industry. Insurers may agree among themselves on rules for telephone marketing, the training of intermediaries, remuneration and consultation records. To this end, santésuisse and curafutura concluded the industry agreement on insurance intermediation on 22.03.2024. The Federal Council declared important parts of it binding on all insurers with effect from 01.09.2024.

Politics and the public. Associations comment on draft legislation, publish analyses and represent insurers towards the Confederation and the cantons. Since 2025, prio.swiss has taken on this role for practically all insurers. Services that are not the task of the new association, such as the SASIS data centre and the purchasing of services, continue to be run by subsidiaries of santésuisse.

Legal basis

There is no specific law for associations such as curafutura. They are associations under private law. Their role in health insurance results from individual provisions:

• Art. 46 para. 1 KVG: the parties to a tariff agreement can be individual insurers or their associations. Under para. 4, a tariff agreement requires the approval of the cantonal government or, if it is to apply throughout Switzerland, of the Federal Council.
• Art. 43 para. 4 KVG: tariffs and prices are agreed in tariff agreements or, in the cases specified by law, set by the authorities.
• Art. 19b KVAG: insurers may conclude an agreement on telephone marketing, training, remuneration of intermediaries and consultation records. If the insurers involved represent at least 66% of insured persons, the Federal Council can declare parts of it generally binding.
• Art. 35b KVAV with Annex 2: the rules listed there from the industry agreement between santésuisse and curafutura of 22.03.2024 have applied to all health insurers since 01.09.2024, for example the cap of CHF 70 in variable remuneration per insured person in basic health insurance. The same applies to supplementary insurance through Art. 190e of the Insurance Supervision Ordinance (ISO).

Example: what remains of curafutura in everyday life

The table shows which rules from the curafutura era still apply today and who continues them.

Agreement or rule	Date	What it governs	Today
Industry agreement on insurance intermediation	22.03.2024, generally binding since 01.09.2024	Ban on cold calling by telephone, CHF 70 per insured person in basic health insurance, 16 net monthly premiums in supplementary insurance, consultation record	Still applies; prio.swiss has taken curafutura’s place
Tariff agreement on TARDOC and outpatient flat rates	Signed 31.10.2024, approved 30.04.2025	Outpatient medical services	Has applied since 01.01.2026; prio.swiss is the party
Renaming as prio.swiss	18.12.2024	Legal succession	Association has operated since 01.01.2025

What this means for you

You do not need to do anything about your insurance because of curafutura or prio.swiss. Your insurer, your premium, your deductible and your notice periods stay the same. Associations negotiate tariffs and represent insurers, but they do not decide on your contract.

This knowledge is useful in two situations:

1. When reading older documents. If curafutura appears in a contract, an explanation of a bill or an article, the rule usually still applies today, now with prio.swiss as the party.
2. With unwanted calls. The ban on cold calling applies to all insurers and their intermediaries. You can complain to the insurer on whose behalf the call was made. The caps for intermediaries are explained on the page intermediary commission.

If you want to compare insurers, premiums and official key figures will help you more than membership of an association. You will find the premiums in the premium calculator, the insurer profiles under Health insurers and the switching process under Switching.

Common mistakes

• Thinking curafutura is a health insurer. It was an association; you could not take out insurance with it.
• Thinking curafutura’s rules no longer apply. The agreements continue through prio.swiss.
• Reading association membership as a sign of quality. Since 2025, practically all insurers have belonged to the same association. That says nothing about premiums or service.
• Taking statements by associations as neutral information. Associations represent the interests of their members. For facts, the law, the FOPH and official data are better sources.

We explain how we choose sources under How we calculate.