A woman sits at the kitchen table and tidies up the medicine cabinet. Meanwhile, the child is playing in the pajamas by the window.

Medication: what CSS pays

Find out for which medicines CSS pays a share of the costs. And why it's worth buying cheaper generics rather than original products.

Basic insurance pays for this medication

There are situations in which medication is the best solution for your health. Whether you opt for the brand-name original, a generic or biosimilar, many medicines are covered by basic insurance.

The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) specifies which medicines may be paid for under basic insurance. That's why CSS covers the cost of medically prescribed medication that features on the Specialties List (SL), minus your co-payment. To keep the amount you have to pay from your own pocket as low as possible, we recommend that you always ask for generic medicine.

What supplementary insurance covers

Supplementary insurance pays a share of the cost if the medication is approved by Swissmedic. For example, myFlex Outpatient Insurance pays 90% of the cost of medically prescribed medication that is recognised by us.

Good to know: These medicines fall into the non-mandatory or "Hors-Liste (HL)" category because they don't feature on the list of preparations that insurers are required by law to cover.

This medication is not covered

There are other medicines that aren't covered by either basic or supplementary insurance. They are included on the “List of pharmaceutical products for special application” (LPPV) or the “LPPV supplementary list”. This list is not exhaustive and can change at any time.