Despite the same premium Major health insurer massively cuts benefits for patients
Groupe Mutuel is significantly reducing the benefits for massage and alternative medical therapies in its supplementary insurance policies. Tens of thousands of policyholders are affected - while premiums remain unchanged.
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- From April, Groupe Mutuel is limiting the duration of massage and alternative medical treatments in supplementary insurance to 60 minutes.
- Since the beginning of 2025, there has also been a severe restriction on the number of reimbursed sessions per year.
- The health insurer justifies the move with rising healthcare costs and the growing use of alternative therapies.
Tens of thousands of Groupe Mutuel supplementary policyholders will have to prepare for a noticeable reduction in benefits. The health insurance company based in Martigny is significantly reducing the reimbursement for massage and alternative medical treatments - without lowering premiums at the same time. This is revealed in an internal letter sent to therapists and made available to CH Media.
Specifically, Groupe Mutuel is introducing a new tariff framework for alternative medicine services from April 10. In future, the health insurance fund will cover a maximum of 60 minutes per session. Previously, there was no fixed time limit; treatments of 90 or even 120 minutes were possible and were reimbursed.
The health insurance company justifies the move with rising healthcare costs. The aim is to control the cost trend in supplementary insurance and limit premium increases, as spokeswoman Lisa Flückiger explained to CH Media. The policyholders themselves will not be informed of the changes until later this year.
Up to 55,000 people affected
Officially, Groupe Mutuel says that less than five percent of its supplementary policyholders are affected by the cuts. However, with a total of around 1.1 million supplementary policyholders at the start of 2025, this equates to up to 55,000 people.
This is not the first cutback in a short space of time. The health insurance company had already significantly reduced the number of reimbursed treatments at the beginning of 2025. While 20 or 30 sessions per year used to be possible, only five massages and eight other therapies per year are now guaranteed to be covered. A medical report is required for additional sessions.
Fewer benefits, same premium
An example calculation illustrates the savings potential for the health insurance fund: if a patient had previously received 30 massages of 90 minutes each for 210 francs, over 5,000 francs would have been reimbursed. Under the new rules, with five guaranteed sessions, this would be less than CHF 1,000. However, the premium for supplementary insurance will not change.
Flückiger justifies this by saying that outliers in invoicing need to be curbed. A maximum treatment duration is common in the industry. The aim is also to prevent the growing use of alternative medical services from leading to higher premium increases in the future.
Criticism from the industry
According to CH Media, a further restriction is causing additional displeasure: For therapists without a federal certificate, Groupe Mutuel is now limiting the number of treatments without a doctor's prescription to a maximum of five sessions per year. The health insurance company justifies this by saying that it wants to specifically enhance the value of further training.
This is not the first time that Groupe Mutuel has caused a stir with cost-cutting measures. Around three years ago, the health insurance company announced that it would no longer reimburse treatments above the average cantonal tariff. The industry associations successfully resisted this move at the time.
