2023-09-28 20:42:39
Health Insurance
One fund increased its premiums by 40%!
Some advantageous funds in 2023 have sometimes increased their prices drastically. Like the KPT. The Romands grimace. Explanations.
PublishedSeptember 28, 2023, 10:42 p.m.
The headquarters of the insurer KPT in Bern.
KPT
Policyholders who hoped to get out of this in 2024 by opting for an alternative model and a high deductible are at a loss. Because even there, certain “cheap” funds in 2023 have massively increased their prices.
The most obvious example is the KPT. The insurer was in fact the most advantageous in a third of the 42 premium regions, in particular thanks to its win-win model (family doctor + telemedicine). Many French-speaking people had also chosen it. But this model went, in the canton of Vaud, from 317 to… 443 francs per month (deductible of 2,500 francs, region 1). That’s an increase of 40%! And the increase is barely less strong with the other franchises. We are therefore very far from 8.7% average increase announced by Alain Berset.
Other insurers have also drastically increased their prices. Like SWICA or Assura, whose alternative models have increased by 15 to 20% depending on the premium region.
An observation also made by the Federal Office of Public Health. “Insurers have partially reduced discounts for optional deductibles and/or insurance models,” he notes. And remember that while the law provides for a maximum discount not to be exceeded, it does not set a minimum. Clearly, insurers can set discounts as they see fit, as long as they are not too high.
Prices too low in 2023
But how can we explain such an increase in the KPT? His boss, Peter Hug, recognizes him in the columns of Daily Gazette Thursday: the fund was overwhelmed by the massive influx of new policyholders in 2023, 195,000 in total, or 50% of its customers. “Such an influx is not sustainable in the long term. This is why we had to correct the situation,” he explains. Clearly, the prices were too low. “It did indeed turn out that we had set the 2023 premiums at the lowest in certain regions and for certain models,” he confirmed.
Another explanation can be found on the side of reserves. The funds have indeed had to draw on their stocks to compensate in particular for losses due to the pandemic and a difficult situation on the capital markets. And some must now replenish their capital, like Assura, which was only at 73% of the legal minimum reserve level at the start of 2023, or KPT, which was at 93%.
But then, which health insurance is now the cheapest? For a Family Doctor model with a franchise of 2,500 francs, it is Helsana and its BeneFit-PLUS-Family Doctor model which is essential in the canton of Vaud (for region 1) and the NetMed 1 model from Sanitas (for region 2). Helsana is also the cheapest fund everywhere in Neuchâtel, Jura, Bernese Jura and Fribourg. In Valais, it is the KPT (win.doc model) which remains the cheapest. As for Geneva, Sanitas is the cheapest. In short: to reduce your premium, you must compare and change crates if necessary. Even if policyholders ultimately pay for having opted for a more advantageous insurer.
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