Mobile phones have become a permanent companion for most people. In addition to entertainment and communication, they are increasingly being used to provide everyday services as well. Today, many residents of Switzerland use mobile apps to manage their health insurance. All of the biggest health insurance providers now offer apps with which customers can file insurance claims, access documents, or check their insurance status.
A moneyland.ch survey asked the 12 biggest Swiss mandatory health insurance providers (Helsana, CSS, Groupe Mutuel, Swica, Concordia, Assura, Visana, Sanitas, KPT, Sympany, ÖKK, and Atupri) about how intensively customers use digital services, and about the exact features included in their mobile apps. The evaluation shows that digital services are generally widely offered. But there are clear differences between insurers with regards to the features included in their apps.
How popular are digital platforms with customers?
“A large portion of customers now use mobile access to manage their health insurance,” observes Ralf Beyeler, telecom and finance expert at independent online comparison service moneyland.ch. A high 75 percent of KPT’s customers have signed up for mobile access. The figures are similar at Sanitas (70 percent), CSS (65 percent), and Helsana (64 percent). Around half of customers at Groupe Mutuel and ÖKK have registered for online access. The same is true of 43 percent of Concordia’s customers. There are no clear figures for other insurance providers.
Many insurance claims are now made online
Many customers now submit medical bills for compensation using digital channels. The popularity of online claims varies between insurance providers. At CSS, 62 percent of all claims are filed online. Figures are also high at KPT (60 percent) and Swica (57 percent). These are followed by Sanitas (56 percent), Groupe Mutuel (53 percent), and Concordia (38 percent).
Visana says that 40 percent of claims are filed using its mobile app or web portal, while 7 percent are submitted by email.
Important: The figures shown above are for all online channels collectively. Separate figures for mobile apps and web portals are not available at this time.
Mobile apps are more popular than web portals
Feedback from some health insurance providers makes it clear that mobile apps are more widely used than web portals. A high 80 percent of traffic to CSS online services comes through its mobile app. Another example: 88 percent of claims filed through online channels by Visana’s customers are submitted using the mobile app.
Features included in health insurance apps
1. View and download bills and statements
The mobile apps from all 12 of the insurance providers included in the survey enable customers to view documents and download them in PDF format. Available documents include insurance policies, unpaid and paid bills, and insurance statements. Swica is the only exception, as documents can be downloaded as PDF files, but cannot be viewed in the app.
Almost no insurance providers let you pay bills in the app itself using various payment services. Of the insurers included in the survey, only Sanitas gives you the option of paying by card or Twint in the app. However, Sanitas only offers this service when you pay your portion of medical bills, but does not accept in-app payments for insurance premiums.
2. File insurance claims
Being able to upload medical bills for reimbursement online is very important for many customers who regularly incur healthcare expenses. It is hardly surprising then, that all of the surveyed insurance providers let you upload photos and PDF documents via their mobile apps. But not all insurers let you track the status of insurance claims.
3. View health insurance cards and vaccination records
The option of viewing your health insurance card virtually in the app is a standard feature across all 12 of the health insurance apps. But most apps require an Internet connection to view your insurance card. Only Assura, Helsana, and Sanitas give you the option of saving your virtual health insurance card in a third-party wallet, such as those offered by Apple and Google. Only Sanitas lets you access a virtual copy of your vaccination book, and this requires an Internet connection.
4. Check what your health insurance covers
All 12 health insurance apps provide general information about your insurance cover in the app. But only three of the 12 insurance providers – namely CSS, Groupe Mutuel, and Sanitas – offer an interactive function that lets you specify a certain expense to find out whether it is covered by your mandatory or supplementary health insurance.
5. Check your deductible and coinsurance status
All 12 Swiss health insurance providers included in the survey let customers see how much of their insurance deductibles and coinsurance has already been paid, and how much they will still have to pay out of their own pocket in that insurance year.
6. Chatlines, messenger, direct messaging, and email
Nearly all of the surveyed insurance providers give customers the option of contacting customer services via a chatline or direct messaging feature. But there are exceptions: Assura and Groupe Mutuel do not offer customer service by chatline or direct messaging.
Customers at Swica and Visana have the option of receiving new documents in PDF format directly by email. This enables you to view digital documents without needing to install the mobile app. CSS told moneyland.ch that it refrains from sending many unencrypted documents by email due to privacy concerns.
7. Managing insurance contracts
All 12 of the surveyed health insurance companies let customers change their address directly in the app. Eight of the 12 also let customers make changes to their insurance coverage, such as moving to a different insurance model or deductible.
Popular online services like Netflix have gotten many consumers used to the idea of being able to terminate a contract at the tap of a button directly in an app. But with the exception of Sanitas, which lets you give notice on mandatory health insurance in its app, Swiss health insurance providers do not offer in-app contract terminations.
8. Manage health insurance for family members
Handling health insurance affairs for other members of your family is another use case for mobile apps. All of the surveyed insurance providers give you the option of managing health insurance matters for members of your family in the app, upon request.
9. Reporting accidents and hospital stays
Less than half of the 12 health insurance providers have features in their apps that let you report accidents or hospital stays directly via an in-app form.
10. Contacting telemedicine services and finding doctors, pharmacies, hospitals, and generic medicines
With the exception of ÖKK, customers of all the surveyed health insurance providers can find the phone number for medical consultation in the app. Eight of the 12 let you connect with their telemedicine service directly within the mobile app.
Searching for doctors and pharmacies in the app is a feature that is only offered by a minority of insurance providers. Currently, there are no health insurance apps that let you search for hospitals. The ability to search for affordable generic alternatives to brand-name medicines is only offered by Helsana (with the third-party Medi+ app), Sanitas, and Visana.
Swiss health insurance apps compared
The table below offers an overview of the most important features included in the mobile apps from the 12 Swiss health insurance providers included in the survey.
Conclusion by Ralf Beyeler: The biggest differences
Most major Swiss health insurance providers already provide many of the features that today’s consumers expect, such as claims filing, virtual health insurance cards, access to unpaid bills, and tracking of deductibles and coinsurance.
But there are also clear differences between the different health insurance providers. While Sanitas offers in-app payments of certain bills, other insurers do not. Sanitas is also the only insurer that lets customers terminate a policy directly within the app – a feature that many of today's consumers have come to expect. Only two insurance providers give you the customer-friendly option of receiving documents by email in PDF format.
The ability to log into apps using biometric authentication is a strong point across all of the surveyed insurance providers. All 12 apps let you log in using a fingerprint or face scan without having to enter a password. Acceptance of passkeys and passwords, on the other hand, is not as common, with only half of surveyed insurers offering this option.
Methodology
moneyland.ch conducted a questionnaire-based survey of the 12 biggest Swiss health insurance providers in terms of the number of mandatory health insurance customers served. The survey inquired about the use of apps by customers, and about the features included in mobile apps.
The moneyland.ch analysis accounts for the answers received from Helsana, CSS, Groupe Mutuel, Swica, Concordia, Assura, Visana (including Sana 24, Galenos, and Vivacare), Sanitas, KPT, Sympany, ÖKK, and Atupri. Collectively, these insurers have a 98-percent share of the Swiss mandatory health insurance market, meaning that the vast majority of residents are insured by one of these 12 health insurance providers.
The analysis is limited to the apps that enable customers to interact with their health insurance provider. Apps that require you to log in to an additional online portal or that can only be used in combination with an additional third-party app are accounted for, but are accompanied by a footnote. Secondary apps from insurance providers, such as reward program apps, health and fitness apps, dedicated telemedicine apps, and third-party apps (like Compassana) are not accounted for in the analysis.
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