Cancel basic health insurance and keep your supplementary insurance

Two contracts that you cancel separately

If you have basic and supplementary insurance with the same insurer, they look like a package. Legally, however, they are two different contracts. Basic health insurance is compulsory and governed by the Federal Health Insurance Act (KVG). Supplementary insurance is voluntary; health insurers may offer it alongside basic health insurance, but it is governed by the Insurance Contract Act (ICA) (Art. 2 para. 2 of the Health Insurance Supervision Act, KVAG).

This is why you can switch your basic health insurance to another insurer and keep your supplementary insurance with your current one. The law explicitly protects this split: your current insurer may not force you to cancel your supplementary insurance as well when you switch (Art. 7 para. 7 KVG), and it may not cancel it solely because you switch basic health insurance (Art. 7 para. 8 KVG).

If you are well insured, for example with semi-private or private hospital insurance, you often lose this cover for good if you cancel it: a new insurer may ask health questions and turn you down. Basic health insurance, by contrast, you can switch every year without this risk.

Step by step: switching only your basic health insurance

1. Compare premiums. The FOPH publishes next year’s premiums at the end of September; your insurer must notify you of the new premium by 31 October (Art. 7 para. 2 KVG). You can compare in the premium calculator.
2. Ask about your supplementary insurance. Ask your insurer in writing whether anything changes in the premium or discounts of your supplementary insurance if your basic health insurance is elsewhere. The law does not regulate this; the general terms and conditions and your insurer’s information are decisive.
3. Write the notice of cancellation, for basic health insurance only. In the subject line, write “Cancellation of compulsory health insurance (basic health insurance) as of 31.12.2026” and add: “My supplementary insurance policies remain unchanged.” Our cancellation letter generator keeps the two insurances cleanly separate.
4. Send it by mid-November. The FOPH recommends sending it by 15 November by registered mail or A Mail Plus. The notice of cancellation must arrive by Monday, 30.11.2026. How to prove receipt is explained in the article Cancellation by email or registered mail?.
5. Apply for basic health insurance only with the new insurer. Choose your deductible and model afresh; according to the FOPH, you may change both when you switch on 1 January. The new insurer must accept you without health questions (Art. 5 let. i KVAG).
6. Check the confirmations. The new insurer notifies the old one that you are insured without interruption; only then does your old basic health insurance end (Art. 7 para. 5 KVG). Check on the old insurer’s new policy that your supplementary insurance continues.

The deadline calculator shows which dates apply to you:

The legal rules in detail

No compulsion to cancel (Art. 7 para. 7 KVG). Your current insurer may not force an insured person to also cancel the supplementary insurance taken out with it when switching insurer. The FOPH repeats this rule in its factsheet on changing health insurer.

No cancellation because of the switch (Art. 7 para. 8 KVG). The insurer may not cancel your supplementary insurance solely because you switch basic health insurance. The ICA adds to this: in supplementary insurance to social health insurance, the right to give ordinary notice and the right to cancel after a claim belong only to the policyholder, not to the insurer (Art. 35a para. 4 ICA).

Obligation to accept applies only to basic health insurance (Art. 5 let. i KVAG). Every insurer must accept every person subject to compulsory insurance within its local area of operation. According to the FOPH, it may not require a health questionnaire for this, unlike for an application for supplementary insurance.

Notice periods for basic health insurance (Art. 7 paras 1 and 2 KVG). After the premium notification, you cancel with one month’s notice to the end of the year, receipt by 30 November. With the standard deductible in the standard model, you can also cancel to the end of June, receipt by 31 March. All dates are explained in the article Health insurance notice periods.

Payment arrears (Art. 64a para. 6 KVG). If you have outstanding premiums or co-payments for basic health insurance for which you have received a reminder, switching is blocked until everything is paid. For a switch on 1 January, the amounts for which reminders were sent by 30 November must be paid by 31 December.

What you can save without touching your supplementary insurance

The benefits of basic health insurance are the same with all insurers. If you switch only basic health insurance, you get the same statutory cover at a different premium. The 2026 premiums in the municipality of Lausanne (region 1), adults born in 1970, without accident cover, across all 105 offers and models (source: FOPH):

With a CHF 2,500 deductible, the difference between the median and the cheapest offer was CHF 643.20 a year, and between the most expensive and the cheapest CHF 2,201.40. The cheapest offers are telemedicine models with a restricted choice of service provider. Only people who are fully covered under the Accident Insurance Act (UVG) may take out insurance without accident cover, for example employees working at least eight hours a week for one employer (Art. 8 para. 1 KVG, Art. 13 para. 1 of the Accident Insurance Ordinance, UVV).

Example: keeping semi-private cover, switching basic health insurance

Example with fictitious persons. Daniel is 56, lives in Lausanne and is employed. For years, he has had basic health insurance and semi-private supplementary hospital insurance with the same insurer. In 2026, his basic health insurance in the standard model with a CHF 2,500 deductible and without accident cover costs CHF 595.65 a month, the same as the most expensive offer in the table.

The figures apply to 2026 and serve to show how the calculation works. Recalculate with next year’s premiums in the premium calculator.

Special cases

• Accident cover. If you had excluded accident cover with your old insurer, apply for this again with the new insurer: the insurer only suspends accident cover on application and with proof that you are fully insured under the UVG (Art. 8 para. 1 KVG). How this works is explained in Excluding accident cover.
• Children. The same applies to children: you can switch their basic health insurance and keep their supplementary insurance. If there are arrears with reminders for a child, the child cannot switch (Art. 64a para. 6 KVG).
• The other way round: cancelling only supplementary insurance. This is also possible. Basic health insurance then continues unchanged. For supplementary insurance, the notice periods in your contract apply; by law, three months’ notice to the end of the third or any subsequent year, unless the contract provides for a shorter period (Art. 35a para. 1 ICA). More on this under Cancelling supplementary insurance.
• Switching your supplementary insurance later as well. Possible, but without any entitlement to be accepted. Only cancel the old one once the new insurer has accepted you in writing. The general terms and conditions and the insurer’s information are decisive.
• Taking out new supplementary insurance without basic health insurance with the same insurer. Some insurers only sell supplementary insurance together with their basic health insurance. Existing contracts are protected by Art. 7 paras 7 and 8 KVG; for a new application, ask beforehand.

Two insurers in everyday life

After changing health insurer, you have two insurers, two policies and two premium invoices. The health insurance card for basic health insurance is used for billing under the KVG (Art. 42a KVG); after switching, you use the new insurer’s card. When admitted to hospital, state both insurances so that the hospital splits the costs correctly. Send invoices for basic health insurance benefits to the new insurer, and invoices for benefits covered only by supplementary insurance to your current one. What each supplementary insurance covers is set out in its general terms and conditions.

Common mistakes

• Writing “I hereby cancel my health insurance”. The insurer may interpret unclear wording as cancelling all contracts. Name basic health insurance explicitly and write that your supplementary insurance remains in place.
• Cancelling everything under pressure from a sales call. You can switch basic health insurance without risk, but not supplementary insurance. The FOPH advises always cancelling yourself.
• Applying for the new basic health insurance too late. The old one only ends once the new insurer has confirmed uninterrupted cover (Art. 7 para. 5 KVG). The FOPH advises registering at the same time as you cancel.
• Not checking combination discounts. Whether the premium for supplementary insurance changes is set out in the general terms and conditions. Set the difference against the saving.
• Forgetting accident cover. If you are insured under the UVG and do not apply for an exclusion with the new insurer, you pay a premium for accident cover even though accident insurance under the UVG already covers accidents.

How to write and send the letter is shown in the article Cancelling your health insurance. All notice periods, including those for supplementary insurance, are listed under Health insurance notice periods. The whole process is shown in Switching insurer, and further articles are in the topic area Switching health insurer. The profiles of all insurers are under Health insurers.