Sympany achieves excellent annual results for 2018
Basel, 15 April 2019 – Sympany is concluding the 2018 business year with an excellent result. Premium income in 2018 increased by 4 per cent overall to CHF 1,048 million (previous year: CHF 1,008 million), of which CHF 800 million was from basic health insurance in accordance with the Swiss Health Insurance Act (KVG).
Operating business, in particular compulsory basic insurance, developed extremely positively in the reporting year, which was due in part to the unexpectedly small rise in healthcare costs in 2018. Sympany has therefore again increased the allocation to the surplus fund for the benefit of customers.
As of 1 January 2019, the number of private medical insurance customers has reached around 259,700. In terms of corporate customers, to whom Sympany offers loss of income and accident insurance, the business volume remained stable into 2019. By the end of 2018, the equity amounted to CHF 451 million (previous year: CHF 414 million).
Customers again receive surpluses from basic and supplementary insurance
Last year, Sympany was still the only large health insurance company operating throughout Switzerland to pay out surpluses to both policyholders with basic insurance coverage and those taking out supplementary insurance. Surpluses occur when medical treatment costs paid for by the health insurance are significantly less than anticipated when setting premiums.
In 2018, six in ten Sympany policyholders were paid surpluses from the 2017 business year totalling CHF 18.8 million. Thanks to the excellent underwriting result in 2018, Sympany has transferred CHF 27.9 million to the surplus fund. Following approval by the authorities, Sympany again plans to make a corresponding payout to its customers.
Sympany meets customer demand for online services
Customers’ needs are at the heart of Sympany’s ongoing development. mySympany, a new combination of the customer portal and app, was launched in mid-2018. In mySympany, customers can take care of almost all requests independently and around the clock. Important documents such as their policy, benefit statements and insurance card are available at all times. By the end of 2018, we were pleased to see that over 85,000 customers had already registered for mySympany. Almost a third had chosen the paperless option; they receive their documents conveniently and online in mySympany.
More partner pharmacies and group practices
With regard to basic insurance, Sympany continued to expand its managed care network in the past business year. Policyholders under the HMO model now have access to over 35 group practices and healthcare centres for their medical care. When they are ill, policyholders under the casamed pharm pharmacy model can visit one of 255 partner pharmacies where they will receive professional medical advice and support. These two innovative models are the most popular with Sympany policyholders: 30 per cent of customers who have chosen an alternative insurance model for their basic insurance are insured under the HMO or pharmacy model.
The Sympany family doctor model has also been expanded. In 2018, a pilot project was launched by Sympany and virtual medical centre eedoctors to offer video consultations or live chats with a doctor. This partnership was extended in early 2019: policyholders under the family doctor model and border commuters under the euroline Germany model now have the choice of consulting either their family doctor practice or eedoctors when they are ill.
Press release: Sympany achieves excellent annual results for 2018