How Much Does Your Health Insurance Pay Towards Your Gym Membership?

Around 1.6 million of Switzerland’s residents have a gym membership. Some Swiss supplemental health insurance offers cover part of the cost, but benefits towards gym memberships vary broadly between insurance providers.

Does mandatory health insurance cover gym memberships?

The basic, compulsory health insurance required for Swiss residents does not include benefits for gym memberships. Because the coverages you get from mandatory health insurance are stipulated by law, this is true for all Swiss health insurance providers.

But health insurance providers often include cover for gym memberships in their supplemental health insurance offers. Cover for gym memberships is often lumped with benefits for activities that promote good health, such fitness courses, aerobics classes, maternity gymnastics, and courses aimed at preventing illnesses. 

How much of the cost of gym memberships is covered and the way in which you receive benefits varies significantly between insurance providers. You can find a detailed overview further on in this guide. Comparing supplemental health insurance offers is always advisable. The practical supplemental health insurance comparison on moneyland.ch lets you filter and sort offers based on their cover for gym memberships.

Which gym memberships are covered by health insurance?

There are certain requirements that must be met in order for a gym membership to be covered. Many insurance providers only pay benefits if the gym in question has been certified by a certain quality control agency (Qualitop, for example). Some health insurance providers have their own lists of covered gyms. There are also insurers that require you to prove that you have spent a certain amount of hours at the gym or have completed courses before you can claim the benefits.

In every case, you have to file an insurance claim and submit the invoice for your gym membership to your health insurance provider.

Before you sign up for a supplemental health insurance offer, you should check whether your preferred gym is on the insurer’s list of covered fitness clubs. If it is not, then getting that insurance will not help you save on your gym membership.

Can health insurance gym benefits save you money?

If your only reason for getting supplemental health insurance is to claim the gym benefits, then doing so will not save you money in most cases. But if you also use the other included coverages – such as possible benefits towards glasses and contact lenses, health-promoting courses, and alternative medicine – then getting supplemental health insurance can pay off.

Example: If an insurance offer costs 300 francs per year and pays 200 francs per year towards a gym membership you would get anyway, then the actual cost for the remaining insurance cover would be just 100 francs per year.

Which supplemental health insurance offers cover gym memberships?

Benefits for gym memberships typically come in one of two formats. Some insurance offers cover a percentage of the cost of your gym membership (often 50 or 75 percent), up to a fixed limit (often between 200 and 500 francs per year). Other insurance offers have a fixed benefit towards gym memberships, and you can claim up to that amount.

The table below provides a clear overview of Swiss supplemental outpatient health insurance offers that cover gym memberships, and the exact gym membership benefits.

As the table above shows, there are big differences between insurance offers with regards to the gym benefits they include. Depending on which insurance you use, you could claim as little as 150 francs or as much as 500 francs per year towards your gym membership.

Note that some insurance providers have more than one health insurance offer with gym benefits. In this case, the different offers from the same insurer can have different gym membership benefits.

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