Is a mid-range deductible between CHF 500 and CHF 2,000 worth it?

Deductible and retention fee: six levels, one upper limit

The deductible (Franchise) is the amount you pay yourself first in basic health insurance every calendar year. On the costs above it, you pay a 10 % retention fee, at most CHF 700 per year (Art. 64 para. 2 of the Federal Health Insurance Act, KVG; Art. 103 of the Health Insurance Ordinance, KVV). For adults and young adults, there are six deductible levels: the standard deductible of CHF 300 and the optional deductibles of CHF 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000 and 2,500 (Art. 93 para. 1 KVV). There are no other amounts.

If you choose a higher level, you bear more yourself and pay a lower premium in return. The discussion usually revolves around the two ends: CHF 300 for people with regular costs, CHF 2,500 for people who rarely see a doctor. The four levels in between look like a compromise. This article shows whether they pay off.

For a hospital stay, adults also pay the hospital contribution of CHF 15 per day (Art. 104 KVV); it is the same for all deductibles and does not change the comparison.

The discount is capped: 70 % of the additional risk

Under Art. 95 para. 2bis KVV, the insurer may reduce the premium per calendar year by at most 70 % of the risk you additionally take on with the higher deductible. The additional risk is the difference from the standard deductible. With CHF 1,500, that is CHF 1,200, so the discount is at most CHF 840 per year.

This leads to a simple calculation per franc of deductible:

• If your costs for the year are below the deductible, each additional franc of deductible brings you up to 70 centimes of premium discount and costs you nothing.
• If your costs are above the deductible, you pay each additional franc of deductible in full yourself instead of just 10 centimes of retention fee. So it costs you 90 centimes and brings at most 70 centimes of discount: a loss of at least 20 centimes.

A deductible therefore pays off mainly to the extent that your costs stay below it. If you exceed the deductible anyway, you are better off with each level further down. If you do not reach it, you are better off with each level further up. As long as the insurer grants the maximum discount at every level, the middle is never the cheapest point when your costs are known; it is the point where you take on the disadvantage of both directions.

Separate levels from CHF 0 to CHF 600 apply to children; the calculation is in the article Lowering children’s premiums.

2026 figures: six deductibles with one insurer

How close insurers come to the maximum discount is shown by a standard tariff from the middle of the field. 2026 premiums, municipality of Zurich (region 1), adults (born in 1992), with accident cover, Helsana basic health insurance in the standard model; source FOPH. The tariff is in 16th place among the 27 standard offers in Zurich.

Deductible	Monthly premium	Annual premium	Saving compared with CHF 300	Highest permitted discount	CHF 300 is cheaper from these costs
CHF 300	CHF 643.00	CHF 7,716.00	–	–	–
CHF 500	CHF 631.40	CHF 7,576.80	CHF 139.20	CHF 140	CHF 454.67
CHF 1,000	CHF 602.20	CHF 7,226.40	CHF 489.60	CHF 490	CHF 844.00
CHF 1,500	CHF 573.00	CHF 6,876.00	CHF 840.00	CHF 840	CHF 1,233.33
CHF 2,000	CHF 543.90	CHF 6,526.80	CHF 1,189.20	CHF 1,190	CHF 1,621.33
CHF 2,500	CHF 514.70	CHF 6,176.40	CHF 1,539.60	CHF 1,540	CHF 2,010.67

The last column is the break-even point: with doctor’s, hospital and medicine costs above this amount per year, you are better off with CHF 300 than with the level in question. It is the saving plus CHF 270, divided by 0.9. With CHF 1,500, that is (CHF 840 + CHF 270) ÷ 0.9 = CHF 1,233.33.

The insurer uses the statutory discount at every level down to a few centimes. This is the rule, not the exception: in our analysis of the 2026 premiums in Zurich, Bern, Geneva, Lausanne, Lugano and Basel, depending on the municipality, 81 to 87 % of all levels were at least 99 % of the maximum discount. Individual tariffs give considerably less at individual levels, down to around a third of the maximum discount. You can see which discount your tariff gives in the premium calculator.

Sample calculation: 300, 1,500 or 2,500?

Example with fictitious people. Sara is 34 and lives in Zurich. She is insured in the standard tariff from the table above and is considering moving from CHF 300 to CHF 1,500, “so that it isn’t CHF 2,500 straight away”. She calculates the annual premium plus deductible plus retention fee for four possible years.

The table shows the pattern from the section above: with low costs, the highest level wins; with high costs, the lowest. The middle level is always in between. If you work through every franc from CHF 0 to CHF 12,000, the CHF 2,500 deductible is cheaper with this tariff up to CHF 2,010, and CHF 300 above that; none of the four middle levels is ever the cheapest.

What our analysis of all tariffs shows

We repeated the calculation for all basic health insurance tariffs, using the FOPH’s 2026 premiums, adults (born in 1992) with accident cover, in six municipalities: Zurich (128 tariffs), Bern (126), Geneva (105), Lausanne (105), Lugano (104) and Basel (117). For each tariff, we compared the total cost of all levels offered for costs from CHF 0 to CHF 12,000. Result: in no tariff was a deductible between CHF 500 and CHF 2,000 the cheapest for any amount of costs. The same applies in Zurich to young adults (born in 2005) and to insured persons born in 1955. How we analyse premiums is explained under How we calculate.

As long as the discounts match the maximum discount, this also applies if you do not know your costs. For any amount of costs, the total cost across the six levels runs like a roof: it rises up to your costs and falls after that. The average over many possible years also has this roof shape, and with a roof, the lowest point is always at one of the two ends.

When a mid-range deductible can still make sense

The cost calculation is not the only question. A middle level limits what a bad year costs you:

• Highest own share. With a CHF 2,500 deductible, you can pay up to CHF 3,200 yourself in one year, with CHF 1,500 up to CHF 2,200, with CHF 1,000 up to CHF 1,700. If you do not have a reserve for CHF 3,200 but do for CHF 2,200, the middle gains you predictability, not money.
• Additional costs in a bad year. In the tariff above, CHF 2,500 costs you up to CHF 660.40 more than CHF 300 in an expensive year, CHF 1,500 at most CHF 360. In return, in a healthy year, you save CHF 699.60 more with CHF 2,500 than with CHF 1,500.
• Tariff with a weak discount at the top. If your tariff gives considerably less than the maximum discount at the top level, the gap between CHF 2,000 and CHF 2,500 can become small. In that case, check your tariff’s discounts level by level.

Whether this security is worth the price to you is a personal judgement. It is not a recommendation for your situation; the deductible calculator shows you the figures for your municipality and your expected costs.

How to check your deductible step by step

1. Add up the costs of the last two or three years. Your insurer’s statements of benefits show the gross costs, not just your share.
2. Add known costs for next year. A planned operation, ongoing therapy or regular medicines belong in the calculation.
3. Calculate your tariff’s break-even point. Saving compared with CHF 300 plus CHF 270, divided by 0.9. The deductible calculator does this with your municipality’s premiums.
4. Check your reserve. Can you pay the highest own share of the chosen level in one year? If not, a lower level is your safeguard.
5. Meet the deadline. A higher deductible always takes effect on 1 January; there is no statutory notice period for it. A lower deductible must reach your insurer by 30 November (Art. 94 KVV, FOPH). The details are in the article Changing your deductible.

The deductible is only one lever. A GP, HMO or telemedicine model lowers the premium regardless of the deductible; the model finder helps you work out which model fits your everyday life.

The planned minimum deductible of CHF 400

As of 25.09.2026: on 13.03.2026, the Federal Council sent an amendment to the KVG for consultation that would raise the standard deductible from CHF 300 to CHF 400. It implements motion 24.3636, which Parliament adopted on 19.03.2025. According to the explanatory report, the optional deductibles are not part of the bill. The gap between the lowest and highest deductible would therefore become smaller, and with it the highest permitted discount for the optional deductibles. The forecast in the report assumes an increase in 2029. What the bill would mean for you is explained in the article Minimum deductible CHF 400.

According to the same report, in 2024, 3.3 million adults in Switzerland (45 %) had the standard deductible and 4.0 million (55 %) an optional deductible.

Common mistakes

• Seeing the middle as a safe compromise. The middle level does not save “a little”; on cost, it almost always loses to an end level. Its only advantage is the lower highest own share.
• Comparing only the deductible, not the retention fee. Above the deductible, you continue to pay 10 %, up to CHF 700 per year. The highest own share is always the deductible plus CHF 700.
• Not checking your own insurer’s discount. The 70 % is an upper limit. Most tariffs use it in full, some do not.
• Trying to cover the deductible with supplementary insurance. This is prohibited: the co-payment and the deductible discount may not be insured (Art. 64 para. 8 and Art. 62 para. 2bis KVG).
• Asking for a lower deductible in December. By then, the 30 November deadline has passed, and the current level applies for another year.

Which of the two end levels suits you is explored in the article Deductible of 300 or 2,500?. What premium, deductible and retention fee add up to is shown in the article What does health insurance really cost?. You will find all money-saving topics in the section Saving money.