Why your adviser is so keen to sell you supplementary insurance
The new premiums are out, and with them come the advice appointments. ‘Let's look at your whole insurance while we're at it,’ you'll hear. Basic and supplementary insurance, all from one source. It sounds like a service. But above all it is about money, and specifically about a figure that hardly anyone knows.
Two caps, a huge difference
Since 1 September 2024 the law sets the maximum a broker may receive for a contract. To do this, the Federal Council declared an agreement between the health insurers binding on all insurers.
An example: supplementary insurance costing CHF 100 a month may earn the broker up to CHF 1'600. For the same person's basic health insurance there is at most CHF 70. So basic health insurance is worth next to nothing to a broker. It is the foot in the door. The money is made on supplementary insurance.
For context: 16 monthly premiums is more than the industry had voluntarily imposed on itself in 2021. Back then the limit was 12 monthly premiums. In September 2023 the industry associations scrapped it altogether, and since 2024 the binding limit of 16 has applied.
The Aargau case
How much can be earned this way is shown by a case reported by several media outlets in May 2026. According to the financial blog Inside Paradeplatz, a general agent of Helsana in Aargau is said to have earned around CHF 700'000 in 2025, mainly from new customers. The figure is not proven, the blog cites no source. But Helsana did not deny it to the Tages-Anzeiger either. The insurer does not comment on individual salaries and says its remuneration system complies with the rules approved by the Federal Council (20 Minuten, Aargauer Zeitung).
How much of that came from basic health insurance and how much from supplementary insurance is not known. But the caps above show where the big money is to be made in the first place. And the point is not one individual: all of this is allowed.
Who pays for it?
You do. Commissions are part of an insurer's advertising costs, and those are built into the premiums. In basic health insurance, according to an analysis by moneyland.ch based on federal data, this came to around CHF 50 million for brokers and CHF 73 million for advertising in 2024. There is no official figure for supplementary insurance. Comparis estimated the commissions there at around CHF 430 million a year in 2023.
The Federal Office of Public Health publishes how much each insurer spends on administration in total. This includes salaries, IT and also advertising and commissions:
| Insurer | Administration per insured person, 2024 |
|---|---|
| CSS | CHF 156 |
| Concordia | CHF 165 |
| Helsana | CHF 178 |
| KPT | CHF 190 |
| Swica | CHF 205 |
| Visana | CHF 212 |
| Sanitas | CHF 224 |
| Assura | CHF 262 |
| Atupri | CHF 285 |
Source: FOPH, supervisory data for compulsory health insurance (OKP) 2024, basic health insurance only. Largest insurers, sorted by amount.
How to protect yourself
- Switch basic health insurance on its own. You can switch your basic health insurance and keep your supplementary insurance. Your current insurer can neither force you to cancel both nor cancel your supplementary insurance because of it (KVG Art. 7). You can switch basic health insurance without an adviser, in ten minutes with our cancellation letter.
- Only cancel your old supplementary insurance once the new one is certain. For supplementary insurance, the insurer may ask health questions and turn you down or add exclusions. Only cancel the old one once the new one has accepted you without exclusions.
- Always answer health questions honestly. Even if the adviser says it doesn't matter. A wrong answer can entitle the insurer to terminate the contract and refuse benefits (Insurance Contract Act, VVG Art. 6).
- Ask who the adviser works for and how they are paid. They must tell you whether they are tied to one insurer. Independent brokers must be listed in the FINMA register and disclose their remuneration if you ask (Insurance Supervision Act, VAG Art. 45 and 45b).
- Use the 14-day cooling-off period. You can withdraw an application for supplementary insurance in writing within 14 days (VVG Art. 2a).
- Report unwanted calls. Cold calling is banned: anyone who is not a customer, or has not been one for over three years, may not be called unsolicited. Reports about basic health insurance go to the FOPH, about supplementary insurance to FINMA. Breaches cost the insurer up to CHF 100'000.
And us? abovergleich.com takes no commissions from health insurers, does not ask for your phone number and passes no data to advisers. The order in the calculator follows price alone. How we work is explained on our Methodology page.
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Compare premiums →Sources: Ordinance on the regulation of insurance brokerage of 14 August 2024 (amending KVAV Art. 35a to 35c and AVO Art. 190d to 190f), in force since 1 September 2024; Federal Council press release of 14/08/2024; industry agreement on brokers 3.0 (Branchenvereinbarung Vermittler) by santésuisse and curafutura, section 9.1; KVG Art. 7; VVG Art. 2a and 6; VAG Art. 45 and 45b; FOPH, supervisory data OKP 2024; moneyland.ch (administrative costs 2024); Comparis estimate according to watson.ch (2023); Inside Paradeplatz (05/05/2026), Aargauer Zeitung (06/05/2026), Tages-Anzeiger (17/05/2026), 20 Minuten (18/05/2026). Information without guarantee.