Healthcare costs

What are healthcare costs?

Healthcare costs are a country’s total spending on the health of its population. They include treatment in hospitals and doctors’ practices, care at home and in nursing homes, medicines and therapeutic appliances, prevention and the administration of the system. The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) collects these costs every year and shows who provides the services and who pays for them.

In everyday language, the term is often equated with health insurance premiums. That falls short. Basic health insurance premiums only finance part of the healthcare system. Other parts are borne by the cantons, for example through their share of inpatient hospital treatment, by other social insurances such as accident or invalidity insurance, by supplementary insurance and by households directly, for example through the deductible, retention fee, dentist’s bills or nursing homes.

The healthcare costs of the whole country must be distinguished from the medical expenses of an individual person, i.e. what your treatment costs in a year. The sum of all treatment billed through basic health insurance does, however, ultimately determine the level of premiums.

How it works

The FSO breaks the costs down by services, by service providers and by financing. In 2024, two thirds of the costs went on care and assistance services, provided mainly by hospitals, doctors’ practices and socio-medical institutions such as nursing homes. These services rose by 4.4%. The strongest growth was in inpatient curative care at +6.6% and long-term care at +5.9%. Spending on medicines, therapeutic appliances and consumables rose by 6.3%, while spending on prevention fell by 15.8%.

By service provider, hospitals were the largest group, at 36.2% of total costs. Their costs rose by 3.3%, those of doctors’ practices by 3.6% and those of socio-medical institutions by 4.4%. In retail, which mainly comprises pharmacies, costs rose by 8.7%.

How costs determine premiums is governed by supervisory law: an insurer’s premiums must cover its costs in each canton, and the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) approves every premium tariff before it applies. So when the costs billed through basic health insurance rise, premiums also rise, with a delay. For the 2026 premiums, the FOPH names as drivers the ageing of the population, new treatment options, rising demand and tariff increases in inpatient and outpatient care. The average premium rose by 4.4% to CHF 393.30 a month; more on this under premium increase.

Politicians are tackling growth at several points, summarised under cost containment. One reform that reorganises financing between cantons and insurers is the uniform financing of outpatient and inpatient services, EFAS for short.

Legal basis

There is no law on “the” healthcare costs; the figures are FSO statistics. For basic health insurance, however, the Federal Health Insurance Act (KVG) sets two guard rails that have a direct effect on costs. Under Art. 32 para. 1 KVG, all benefits must be effective, appropriate and cost-effective; under Art. 32 para. 2 KVG, these criteria are reviewed periodically, and benefits that do not meet them are not reimbursed (Art. 32 para. 4 KVG).

The link to premiums is governed by Art. 16 of the Health Insurance Supervision Act (KVAG): premium tariffs require the approval of the supervisory authority (para. 1), premiums must cover the costs, which differ from canton to canton (para. 3), and the authority refuses tariffs that do not cover the costs or are unreasonably far above them (para. 4).

Example: costs per person and per month

The figure of 97 billion francs is hard to grasp. Converted to one person, it looks like this (FSO, costs 2024, our own calculation):

The difference between Basel-Stadt and Uri is CHF 5,038 per person per year. Cantonal differences like this explain why premiums vary by canton and premium region. The share of outpatient services also varied widely in 2024: 53.0% in the canton of Geneva, 36.9% in the canton of Uri.

What this means for you

You can hardly influence the country’s healthcare costs on your own, but you can influence your own spending. Three levers are in your hands:

1. Compare premiums. Insurers charge different premiums for the same statutory benefits. The premium calculator shows all offers for your municipality using the official FOPH data.
2. Check your deductible and model. If you rarely have costs, you often pay a lower premium with a higher deductible or a GP or telemedicine model. If you regularly need treatment, you are usually better off with a low deductible.
3. Apply for a premium subsidy. If your income is low, the canton pays part of the premium; the rules differ from canton to canton.

The overview of premiums by canton shows how premiums in your canton have developed. You will find the key figures of the individual insurers in the health insurer profiles.

Common mistakes

• Equating premiums with healthcare costs. Premiums only cover part; cantons, other social insurances and households directly pay the rest.
• Mixing up years. The FSO costs for 2024 and the premiums for 2026 come from different years. Only compare figures with the year stated.
• Taking costs per person as your own needs. The average of CHF 10,792 includes nursing homes, hospitals and administration. Your own costs can be far below or above it.
• Overlooking cantonal differences. There is CHF 5,038 per person between Basel-Stadt and Uri. So always compare premiums for your own municipality.

We explain how we handle data and sources under how we calculate.