Applying for a premium subsidy: entitlement, deadlines and application

Who is entitled to a premium subsidy

The premium subsidy is a contribution from your canton of residence towards your basic health insurance premium. The Federal Health Insurance Act (KVG) obliges the cantons to grant it to insured persons “of modest means” (Art. 65 para. 1 KVG). Each canton decides for itself what modest means. That is why there are 26 systems with their own limits, formulas and deadlines.

Almost all cantons assess entitlement on the basis of a relevant income. It is based on the tax assessment, plus part of your assets and certain deductions that the canton adds back, such as payments into pillar 3a. Many cantons compare the result with a reference premium, a reference amount per person.

A federal requirement applies to children and young adults: for low and middle incomes, the cantons reduce children’s premiums by at least 80 % and the premiums of young adults in education by at least 50 % (Art. 65 para. 1bis KVG). Where the limit for “middle incomes” lies is again up to the canton.

The way to the money varies. Broadly, there are three procedures:

Step by step: how to apply for a premium subsidy

1. Find the responsible office. It is usually the cantonal social insurance office (SVA) or compensation office; in Bern the Amt für Sozialversicherungen (ASV), in Lucerne the WAS Ausgleichskasse. The FOPH publishes the list of all offices; you will also find the link to your office on the page Premium subsidies.
2. Note the deadline. Depending on the canton, deadlines fall before the year of entitlement, in the middle of the year or afterwards (table below). A missed deadline can cost you part of the year or the whole year.
3. Get your documents ready. Your latest tax assessment, the AHV number of every household member, the name of your health insurer and your insurance number. If your income has fallen: proof such as payslips or daily allowance statements from unemployment insurance.
4. Submit the application. Online with a code or login, otherwise with the form. If you have not been sent a form, Zurich requires the online application; PDF forms are available for people without internet access.
5. Check the decision. The canton notifies you of your entitlement in writing. In Zurich, it can take up to six months for the decision to arrive. Check the people, the income and the insurer.
6. Check your premium invoice. Your insurer deducts the amount and must inform you of the subsidy with the next invoice at the latest (Art. 65 para. 4bis KVG).
7. Report changes. If your income rises or falls sharply, your household changes or you move, report this to the office. This way you avoid repayment claims.

Application deadlines 2026 in selected cantons

The table summarises the information from the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Health Directors (GDK) for 2026, supplemented for Zurich by information from SVA Zürich. The GDK publishes its overview without guarantee; cantonal law and the information from the implementing office are what is binding.

Canton	Application	Deadline for 2026	If you apply late
Zurich	pre-filled form from SVA, otherwise online application	31.03.2027	–
Bern	office identifies eligible people and notifies them; otherwise application	for the current calendar year	–
Lucerne	form to previous recipients, online registration	31.10.2025	only premiums falling due after the application
Aargau	code to people presumed eligible, otherwise request a code online	31.12.2025	–
St. Gallen	pre-filled form by 10 January	31.03.2026	pro rata from the month of application
Solothurn	form to people who may be eligible	31 July (withholding tax: 31 December)	–
Basel-Stadt	information to people who may be eligible, application	no deadline	from the month after the application
Ticino	form sent automatically to eligible people	31.12.2025	from the following month
Vaud	application at any time	no deadline	from the first day of the second month after the application

For cantons not listed here, you will find the rules on your canton’s page, for example Premium subsidies Zurich or Premium subsidies Aargau.

The legal rules in detail

Direct payment to the insurer. The canton pays the subsidy directly to the health insurer with which you are insured (Art. 65 para. 1 KVG). Under Art. 65 para. 3 KVG, it must organise the payment so that you do not have to pay the premium in advance.

Current circumstances. When assessing entitlement, in particular on your application, the cantons must take into account the most recent income and family circumstances (Art. 65 para. 3 KVG). They decide themselves from what level of change they recalculate. In Aargau, according to the GDK, this is the case, for example, if income is at least 20 % lower for at least 6 months.

Information. The cantons must regularly inform people of their right to a premium subsidy (Art. 65 para. 4 KVG). A letter is not provided for in all cantons, however.

Moving. If you move to another canton during the year, entitlement for the whole calendar year is governed by the law of the canton in which you lived on 1 January; that canton pays (Art. 5 VPVK).

Procedure. The general part of social insurance law (ATSG) does not apply to the payment of premium subsidies (Art. 1 para. 2 let. c KVG). Application, deadlines, objection and legal remedies are governed by cantonal law. The deadline for an objection is set out in the notice of appeal rights in the decision.

Cross-border commuters. Special rules apply to cross-border commuters resident in the EU, Iceland, Norway or the United Kingdom and to their family members (Art. 65a KVG).

Sample calculation: Aargau basic formula 2026

According to the GDK, the following applies in Aargau in 2026: premium subsidy = sum of the household’s reference premiums minus 17.5 % of relevant income. The reference premium for adults is CHF 5,830 per year. Relevant income is taxable income plus 20 % of taxable assets.

Example with fictitious people. Lukas, 29, lives alone in Aarau. His relevant income is CHF 25,000 (assumption).

The calculation shows: premium subsidies and comparing insurers complement each other. You can see the premiums of all insurers in your municipality in the premium calculator.

Special cases

• Families with children. For children, the minimum reduction of 80 % applies for low and middle incomes. A birth changes the size of the household; check your entitlement again in the year of the birth. The child premium calculator shows what the child premium costs without a subsidy.
• Young adults. Some cantons assess 19 to 25-year-olds on their own, others together with their parents. In Aargau, according to the GDK, the canton only assumes that a young adult supports themselves if their taxable income exceeds CHF 24,000; otherwise it calculates with the parents. More on this in the article Studying and health insurance.
• Supplementary benefits. If you receive supplementary benefits to the AHV or IV, you get a flat-rate amount for basic health insurance equal to the cantonal or regional average premium, at most your actual premium (Art. 10 para. 3 let. d ELG). In Aargau, the premium subsidy then runs automatically through the supplementary benefits entitlement. More on supplementary benefits and the situation in retirement in the article Premium subsidies and supplementary benefits in retirement.
• Income has collapsed. After unemployment, separation or retirement, the old tax assessment no longer fits. Ask for a recalculation based on your current circumstances (Art. 65 para. 3 KVG). The article Unemployed: what applies to your health insurance explains what else applies when you are unemployed.
• Withholding tax. Without an ordinary tax assessment, special rules apply, often with their own deadline; in Solothurn, according to the GDK, 31 December.
• Newly arrived. People who have moved from abroad or from another canton usually have no tax data in the new canton and must apply themselves. If you move from another canton, under Art. 5 VPVK the canton in which you lived on 1 January remains responsible for the year of the move.

Common mistakes

• Waiting for a letter. Not all cantons write to eligible people, and the letters do not reach everyone. People presumed to be just above the limit often do not receive one.
• Misjudging the deadline. In Aargau and Lucerne, the deadline for 2026 was already in the previous year; in Zurich it is in the following year. Note your canton’s date.
• Comparing the wrong income. What counts is not your gross salary but income under the canton’s rules, often with a share of assets and pillar 3a added back.
• Not reporting changes. If you earn more than in your tax assessment, expect a repayment claim. The article Repaying a premium subsidy explains how this works.
• No longer comparing premiums. In many cantons, the subsidy stays the same however expensive your insurer is. A cheaper insurer lowers what you have left to pay. The deadline calculator shows when you can switch.

You will find more ways to make health insurance cheaper in the topic section Saving money. You can also deduct doctor’s and dentist’s costs you pay yourself from your taxes, as the article Deducting healthcare costs from your taxes shows. You will find key figures for all insurers under Health insurers.