Thanks to the very good financial situation in which CSS finds itself, it is able to release part of its reserves in 2022. You'll enjoy a monthly repayment under basic insurance if you are insured with either CSS Kranken-Versicherung AG or Arcosana AG. The planned repayment still has to be approved by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH).
Insured persons who have basic insurance with either CSS Kranken-Versicherung AG or Arcosana AG in 2022 will enjoy lower premiums. Thanks to the reserves being released, you will automatically get a repayment.
The monthly repayment from reserves will be deducted directly from your monthly premium. If you pay your premiums every two months, quarterly, semi-annually or annually, the repayments will be made at these same intervals.
The Federal Council simplified the legal requirements for releasing reserves in mid-2021. It lowered the minimum reserve level, thus making it easier to free them up. As CSS doesn't wish to build up any excess reserves and is committed to fair premiums, it intends to release part of its reserves in the coming year. It will pay CHF 90 million back to its insured persons.
In addition to making the repayments, CSS will maintain its focus on using surpluses from basic insurance to create lower than average premiums. We will continue to follow this principle in future.
Reserves for basic insurance cover the cost of above-average spending. This provides health insurance companies with a high degree of certainty that they will be able to meet their financial obligations. The minimum reserve level is set down in law.
In recent years, there has been a positive trend in benefit costs, which have tended to fall. As a result, reserves have risen sharply. Also, the minimum reserve level required by law was lowered this year. As we can't reduce the reserves via lower premiums only, we are now also voluntarily repaying part of our reserves to clients.
Yes. The level of reserves must at least be high enough to completely cover all our expenses in a given year. That is what the Ordinance on Supervision stipulates.
Each health insurance provider is obliged to submit its premiums – which must cover costs – to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) for approval each year. In the interests of its insured persons, CSS already calculates its premiums tightly. That's why reserves can't be released to create lower premiums that don't cover costs.
No. New clients will also enjoy the repayment. Clients who have helped build up the reserves but who no longer have basic insurance with CSS can no longer benefit from the repayment. Because reserves generally always stay with the health insurance company with which that person was insured at the time.
The repayment amount varies depending on:
The level of your premium, where you live, your gender, chosen deductible and basic insurance model have no effect.
Whether CSS will still be able to pay out contributions from reserves in future depends on how benefit costs develop and whether CSS makes a profit or loss. CSS reviews the situation each year. And each annual decision is subject to approval by the FOPH.
No. The repayment from reserves will only be received by clients who have basic insurance with either CSS Kranken-Versicherung AG or Arcosana AG. However, persons who have supplementary insurance but not basic insurance can take advantage of the 365 health initiative.
No. You don't receive it for the full calendar year. The repayment will be deducted from your premium on a monthly basis. If you leave during the year, you lose your entitlement.
The premiums on Priminfo and other comparison sites are gross premiums. That means they do not include the repayment of environmental tax or the repayment from reserves. In CSS's own premium calculator, these amounts have already been deducted from the regular premium. That's why your premium is lower here.
