Private and Half-Private Insurance

Is it a good idea to get private hospitalization supplement?

Hi healthguru,

Basic mandatory health insurance covers treatment in the general wards of most hospitals within your canton of residence. It also covers hospital stays outside your canton of residence which do not exceed the cost of the same treatment in your canton of residence. That limit does not apply if hospitals in your canton of residence are not equipped to provide needed treatments.

The supplemental hospital insurance offered by insurance companies typically covers the full cost of hospital stays throughout Switzerland. Some insurers offer basic supplementary hospital insurance which just extends private ward coverage to all of Switzerland. This is only marginally advantageous, but premiums are generally low.

Semi private ward and private ward hospital insurance extend coverage to private clinics which are not covered by mandatory health insurance. This is possibly the primary advantage of supplementary hospital insurance. Coverage for clinics varies between policies. You can easily find out which hospitals are covered using the interactive supplementary hospital insurance comparison.

In the past, general wards often housed 4 or more patients. People who were not comfortable with this setup took out semi-private health insurance for semi-private wards which only housed 2 patients. Today, many Swiss general wards do not house more than 2 patients, which largely negates the advantage of semi-private ward hospital insurance. General wards are covered by mandatory health insurance.

Private ward hospital insurance, on the other hand, covers the cost of treatment in a private room. This insurance is relatively expensive, and should only be considered if you feel you need a private ward.

An advantage included in both semi private and private ward hospital insurance is that it gives you the right to request which doctor on duty you want to receive treatment from. This is a marginal benefit, but if your personal rapport with your doctor is important to you, it is a benefit worth accounting for.

On the whole, supplementary hospital insurance is only advantageous if you are not content to receive standard treatment in the general ward of a Swiss hospital. If you would only want to be treated in private clinics and/or private wards if you became ill or had an accident, getting supplementary hospital insurance can help protect you from the high costs of potential treatments.

Read the guide to supplementary hospital insurance for more information. Also refer to the guide to supplementary hospital insurance deductibles.