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Press release
Representative Comparis health premium survey
Rising health insurance premiums damage financial confidence
In October 2022, every third person in Switzerland expects their financial situation to worsen compared to the previous year. Main reason cited: the increase in health insurance premiums. These are the results of a representative survey conducted by comparis.ch. Among respondents, 64% cited the increase in health insurance premiums to explain the fear of a decrease in their financial resources, the highest rate since 2017. “When we talk about inflation, the sharp increases in basic insurance premiums are on everyone’s lips and fuel the fear of a worsening of one’s personal financial situation,” explains Michael Kuhn, money expert at Comparis.
Zurich, 8 November 2022 – In October 2022, the Swiss had never had such a pessimistic view of their financial situation since the first survey in 2017: 33.4% expected their finances to worsen compared to the previous year, while only 17, 4% shared this opinion in March 2022. In addition, 21% expect an improvement against another 26.7% in March. This is according to a representative study carried out by comparis.ch, the comparator on the Internet.
The reason most often given to justify the fear of a deterioration is the increase in health insurance premiums of 6.6% on average in 2023 (63.6% of responses). This is followed by the increase in rents/mortgage interest (30.8%) and (presumed) depreciation on investments, e.g. eg in shares (21.6%).
Men are significantly more pessimistic than women about the increase in basic insurance contributions: 70.1% of them cited it to explain the worsening of their financial situation in 2022, against only 58.4% of women.
“When we talk about inflation, the sharp increases in basic insurance premiums of 6.6% on average are on everyone’s lips and give rise to fears of a worsening of one’s personal financial situation, explains Michael Kuhn, money expert at Comparis. And this, even though the new premiums only apply from 1 January next year. »
The basic insurance, whose premium for an adult will amount to an average of 4,882 francs in 2023 (compared to 4,574 francs in 2022), represents a significant part of the budget.
Low-income households find it difficult to pay their premiums
In addition, the massive increase in health insurance premiums in 2023 is clearly a sore point when people are asked how easy it is to pay: 17.8% indicate that the situation varies from one payment to another. The proportion of respondents who chose this answer had never been so high since 2017. It is much higher in Ticino (31%) than in German-speaking Switzerland (17.7%) and than in French-speaking Switzerland (15.8 %).
In terms of income, only 40% of people whose monthly gross income is less than or equal to 4000 francs have no problem paying their health insurance premiums. For incomes between 4,000 and 8,000 francs, this figure is 59% and 80% for incomes above 8,000 francs. All income classes combined, 61% have no problem paying their premiums, the latter being provided for in the budget.
On the other hand, 14.1% of respondents stated that they regularly had difficulty paying their premiums, even though their steep increase had not yet taken effect. As for the proportion of people who say they benefit from a cantonal reduction in premiums, it has remained stable at around 28%.
Method
The representative survey was carried out by the polling and market research institute innofact on behalf of comparis.ch among a sample of 1,034 people from all regions of Switzerland. The survey took place in October 2022.
For more information :
Michael Kuhn Expert Consumer Finance Téléphone : 044 360 53 91 Courriel : media@comparis.ch comparis.ch
About comparis.ch
With more than 80 million visits per year, comparis.ch is one of the most visited websites in Switzerland. The company compares prices and services from health insurers, insurance companies, banks and telecom operators. It also presents the largest online offer in Switzerland for cars and real estate. With its detailed comparisons and in-depth analysis, it contributes to more transparency in the market. comparis.ch thus strengthens consumers’ expertise in decision-making. The company was founded in 1996 by economist Richard Eisler and now has more than 200 employees in Zurich.
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