Swiss Hospital Insurance for General Wards Explained

Many Swiss health insurance providers offer voluntary, supplemental insurance for stays in general wards. This moneyland.ch guide answers the most important questions about health insurance cover for hospital stays in general wards.

What does mandatory health insurance cover?

Before you get additional hospital insurance, it is important to understand what is already covered by your mandatory Swiss health insurance. Mandatory insurance covers the cost of planned hospital stays in the general wards of hospitals that are included on your canton’s list of covered hospitals. Depending on which canton you live in, the list may include hospitals in neighboring cantons.

Mandatory health insurance also covers stays at other Swiss public hospitals (hospitals that are covered by Swiss mandatory health insurance) in the following cases:

• Medical emergencies: If a medical emergency necessitates treatment at a Swiss public hospital that is not on your canton’s hospital list, the cost will be covered by mandatory health insurance.
• The treatment you need is not available: Stays in other Swiss hospitals may be covered if a necessary medical procedure is not offered by a hospital on your canton’s hospital list. This is decided on a case-by-case basis.

In every other case, mandatory health insurance only covers 45 percent of the cost of hospitalization at Swiss public hospitals that are not on your canton’s list.

Which can be covered with voluntary hospital insurance for general wards?

The exact coverage varies between offers. Typically, supplemental general ward hospital insurance covers these expenses:

• The cost of planned stays in Swiss hospitals that are not on your canton’s hospital list, including maternity. You can generally choose between all Swiss hospitals and clinics that are covered by mandatory health insurance, though insurance providers may exclude certain hospitals and clinics. If you are not sure whether or not a certain hospital is covered, contact your insurance provider and get a confirmation first.
• The possible excess portion of costs in the case of hospitalization due to medical emergencies.

Other coverages that may be included, depending on the insurance provider, are:

• Planned general ward hospitalization in foreign countries.
• Emergency hospital stays in general wards in foreign countries.
• Ambulance transportation, search, rescue, and repatriation.
• Convalescent treatments (recovery) after hospitalization.
• Stays at rehabilitation clinics after hospitalization.
• Rooming in: The insurance covers the cost of having a family member stay at the hospital with the insured patient.
• Housekeeping and childcare: Some general ward hospital insurance offers pay out benefits towards the cost of hiring a professional to keep house while you are in the hospital. This usually also applies to maternity. Some offers also pay out benefits towards the cost of professional childcare while you are hospitalized.
• Home-based care after a hospitalization.

The limits for individual coverages vary broadly between insurance offers, but are generally low compared to those that apply to more expensive flex hospital insurance, and insurance for semi-private wards and private wards.

You can filter and sort general ward insurance offers based on the benefits they include using the interactive hospital insurance comparison on moneyland.ch. Details about individual coverages are available on the product information pages.

How much does supplemental hospital insurance for general wards cost?

Supplemental insurance for general wards is relatively cheap. As with other kinds of voluntary health insurance, the premiums you pay typically go up as you get older. Other factors like your place of residence and your gender also play a role.

You can compare the costs based on your age, location, and gender using the interactive hospital insurance comparison on moneyland.ch.

Do I have a right to supplemental hospital insurance?

No. Unlike the mandatory health insurance that all residents of Switzerland have a right to receive, getting voluntary supplemental hospital insurance is not a legal right. Health insurance providers can turn down your application if you do not meet their age or health requirements, among other things. They can also accept your application, but exclude pre-existing conditions from cover.

Do I need supplemental hospital insurance for general wards?

A good first step is to check whether the hospitals you are likely to use are included on your canton’s hospital list. If the Swiss public hospitals that you would want to be treated in are not included on the list, then getting supplemental general ward insurance is worth considering.

You can find your canton’s hospital list using the links below:

• Aargau
• Appenzell Ausserrhoden
• Appenzell Innerrhoden
• Basel-Landschaft
• Basel-Stadt
• Bern
• Fribourg
• Geneva
• Glarus
• Grisons
• Jura
• Lucerne
• Neuchâtel
• Nidwalden
• Obwalden
• Sankt Gallen
• Schaffhausen
• Schwyz
• Solothurn
• Thurgau
• Ticino
• Uri
• Valais
• Vaud
• Zug
• Zurich

Cover for ambulance transportation and other benefits are also worth looking at. However, the limits on coverage are very low, so it generally is not worth getting this insurance unless you also need the cover for hospitals.

Certain coverages like ambulance transportation and cover for medical emergencies outside of Switzerland are also covered by supplemental outpatient insurance – often with much higher limits. Depending on your reasons for getting additional, voluntary health insurance, it can make more sense to get supplemental outpatient insurance instead. You can compare offers using the interactive supplemental outpatient insurance comparison on moneyland.ch.

If you prefer to stay in a two-person or single bedroom during hospital stays, then it makes more sense to get insurance for semi-private wards or private wards. Alternatively, you can get flex hospital insurance which lets you choose between a general ward, semi-private ward, or private ward for each hospital stay individually. 

More on this topic:
Compare Swiss supplemental hospital insurance offers now
Compare Swiss supplemental outpatient insurance offers now
Swiss flex hospital insurance explained