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Health insurance · deadline helper

By when must you take out insurance, and what happens before and after?

Your personal three-month deadline, computed in the browser, with the honest mechanics: retroactivity, premium surcharge and ex-officio assignment. We show no prices: the official federal calculator lists all insurers neutrally.

Your details

Everything is computed in your browser: nothing is sent or stored.

Already done or planned. The three-month clock starts on this day.

Only to point you to the right cantonal authority, not for premiums.

Each person takes out their own basic insurance.

Your personal deadline appears here

Enter the date you take up residence.

Computed entirely in your browser. No data leaves this device.

The law

The rule, clearly explained

The Confederation and cantons govern the insurance obligation in the LAMal/KVG (SR 832.10) and the OAMal/KVV ordinance (SR 832.102).

Three months from taking up residence
Anyone who takes up residence in Switzerland (or is born here) must join mandatory basic insurance within three months. A newborn has the same deadline from birth.
On time = covered retroactively, and liable retroactively
Join in time and coverage takes effect from arrival or birth. The flip side: you owe the premiums for that whole period retroactively. There is no three-month premium-free window.
Late = no retroactivity, possible surcharge
After the deadline, coverage starts only from the late enrolment. If the delay is not excusable, a premium surcharge applies; in hardship the insurer reduces it.
No enrolment = ex-officio assignment
Anyone who fails to enrol is assigned ex officio by the cantonal authority to an insurer offering LAMal in the canton (LAMal art. 6): you do not pick the insurer at that moment.

The honest truth

What most sites gloss over

  • Enrolling on time does not mean 'three months free': you pay premiums retroactively back to your arrival day. Waiting saves nothing.

  • Miss the deadline and the cantonal authority assigns you ex officio to an insurer, plus a possible surcharge if the delay is not excusable.

  • There is no discount, bundle or 'best deal' we can show you: we rank no insurers and no models. The only legitimate price source is the federal calculator: you compare there yourself, neutrally, across all insurers.

  • Whether a foreign policy is 'equivalent' for the student or diplomatic exemption is judged by the canton case by case, on an insurer-signed form: we cannot guarantee it in advance.

  • The frontalier right of option is definitive once exercised or defaulted: there is no easy do-over.

Our boundary

We explain the law, we do not sell insurance

This tool compares no insurers, names no private insurer, estimates no premium and recommends no model. For prices we point only to the official federal calculator priminfo.admin.ch, which shows all insurers neutrally.

Sources

Last reviewed 14.07.2026

Official evidence

Every statement rests on an official federal or cantonal source.

In a crisis: no money, a sick relative, the deadline long past?

The obligation stays, but premium subsidies and hardship rules exist. You are not alone.

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A specific question about your health insurance?

Ask Clara: a free answer, backed by the statute articles, no account needed.

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General information, editorially reviewed, not legal advice.