Health insurance? - 2 choices for new job

Banks, Insurances & Third Pillar
1

Hi all,

I’m starting a new role soon and have two options for company health insurance:

  1. Keep my current health insurance and the employer will pay for it.
  2. Join the employer’s aggregate health insurance plan which they will also pay for.

My assumption is that I will be taxed on both these benefits equally so should just pick whichever is cheaper. Am I missing any perks of being on an employer’s plan? Before this I was at a start-up who did not offer an aggregate plan.

Also now that I am 25 it looks like the good days are over and I will have to go from from CHF160/month to CHF320 :smiley:!

2

Health costs are tax deductible up to a certain cap that varies from Kanton to Kanton, so you could optimize the choice of your policy based on these amounts. I’d also check if there are limitations on your employer plan (choice of the doctor, requirement to call the insurer first, …) before doing my choice. I’d choose my health insurance deductible accordingly.

I’m guessing you won’t qualify for subsidies because you’ll have a decent enough salary. In case you do, don’t forget to include them in your analysis.

ETA: also worth asking: what happens if you leave your current employer not at the end of a year. Can you remain on his plan for the remainder of the year?

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3

Check if the employer will give you a fixed amount e.g. 350.- CHF and then it’s up to you to find a cheaper Health insurance and keep the difference. Doing that with my company. I get around 800.- Fr. for the whole family and spend “only” around 450.- Fr. with the highest deductible and all basic.

3 Likes
4

Ha, my past company did the same. I was given an extra CHF400 month for health insurance and paid just CHF160 as an under 25. Of course after ~40% tax I only had CHF240 into my pocket but still netted a profit.

I will ask if its an option again but get the impression they will pay whatever my bill is.

5

Hmm I found from a quick search that federal deductions are capped at CHF1700 and Vaud is CHF2200. So would exceed these in either instance.

Thats a good point. If not should be able to jump on another plan mid-year with a letter though. Perhaps a hassle tax.

6

You may not be able to choose another deductible than the basic 300.-, though, and potentially won’t be able to choose a specific model either. That’s not an awful additional cost but that’d make me lean toward insuring myself on my own, all other things being equal.

7

I would definitely second/third/fourth getting the benefit from your employer in cash if possible and then getting the cheapest insurance and pocketing the difference. Many (expensive) health insurance companies make these kind of partnerships with employers to onboard customers. But in many cases they are not the best deal.

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So found out my two options:

  1. Take the company health insurance: CHF600/month. This includes a CHF300 deductible and supplementary insurance giving me semi-private hospitalisation, 50% dental up to CHF1k, and CHF200 glasses a year, and some other stuff.
  2. Buy the cheapest telmed insurance: CHF310 month. This would be CHF2500 deductible, no supplementary.

Both of these options would be fully paid by the company. The only cost to me would be the extra tax on the benefit. (Yes pretty insane deal!)

Quick assessment below.

  • I believe I would pay no extra social security costs on the company plan, whereas if I am reimbursed through income for my own plan I will contribute approx. 7% to AVS etc.
  • Approx. CHF2k of healthcare costs are non-taxable. Excess is at an assumed marginal rate of 35%.
Plan Cost (yr) Social security (7%) Taxable benefit (-2k) Tax burden (35% marginal +ss)
Cheap 3’720 CHF 260 CHF 1’720 CHF 862 CHF
Company 7’200 CHF - CHF 5’200 CHF 1’820 CHF

So should I choose to pay CHF1k more in taxes to go from a CHF2500 telmed plan to a CHF300 normal plan with semi private hospitalisation and some other benefits on dental, glasses, etc.

On paper it seems very good but as a 25 yr old who has used about CHF200 costs a yr for the last 3 yrs I wouldn’t have had any benefit. Perhaps I can take the premium plan and try have some injuries :smiley:.

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Injuries should be covered by a different plan btw :smile:

10

Hi hippo,

You should discuss the social security topic with your HR.

Most likely, both plans will be considered as benefit in kind and subject to social security.

Additional info in “Guide d’établissement du certificat de salaire et de I’attestation de rentes” chiffre 7 “Autres prestations” chiffre 37.

Source: https://www.estv.admin.ch/estv/fr/home/direkte-bundessteuer/direkte-bundessteuer/dienstleistungen/formulare/lohnausweis.html#1227201177
You can have the document in FR, DE or IT.

In which canton will you live ? Geneva is generous with the deduction on health insurance premiums, most of the time, 100% is deductible.

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11

Hi Guillaume,

My understanding is that the company plan is paid directly by the company thus I will not incur any social security charges on my payslip. This is what I was told (unless I misunderstood).

I am in the canton of Vaud which I believe I can write off CHF2200 a yr. At a federal level CHF1700 a yr.

12

3200 CHF in Vaud since 2020