What care levels are there in Switzerland?

In Switzerland, care levels are mainly used to categorise the care costs of people in a care home. The starting point is the assessment of care needs with a ‘needs assessment’

Private Spitex-Mitarbeiterin zieht älterer Patienten zu Hause Schuhe an.

Care levels according to the time factor in nursing homes

On admission to a nursing home, the patient is classified by a specialist into one of the 12 care requirement levels, which specify the time required per day. The higher the care level, the more time is required and the higher the costs. For example, in care level 12, the care requirement per day is higher than 220 minutes.
The care level is reviewed again after 6 months, then the review takes place annually. If there is a significant improvement or deterioration in the state of health, the person is reclassified to a lower or higher care level.

Care level	Temporary care requirement per day	Insurer contributions per day
1	up to 20 min.	9.60 CHF
2	21 min. to 40 min.	19.20 CHF
3	41min. to 60min.	28.80 CHF
4	61min. to 80 min.	38.40 CHF
5	81min. to 100 min.	48.00 CHF
6	101min. to 120 min.	57.60 CHF
7	121min. to 140 min.	67.20 CHF
8	141min. to 160 min.	76.80 CHF
9	161min. to 180 min.	86.40 CHF
10	181min. to 200 min.	96.00 CHF
11	201min. to 220 min.	105.60 CHF
12	more than 220 min	115.20 CHF

How high is the co-payment for patients?

The patient's co-payment also depends on the level of care. The higher the care level, the higher the costs for the patient and their relatives. The care costs only make up a small part of this. The majority of the costs are incurred by the all-round care, rent, meals and other flexible services offered by the nursing home. According to the Federal Statistical Office, a place in a nursing home costs an average of CHF 8,700 per month. Of this, the patient has to pay around 2/3 of the costs for all the services provided by the nursing home. Nursing home care is charged at a daily flat rate, while home care is charged at an hourly rate.

Under care level 6, care at home is often cheaper

For lower care levels, care and support at home, as offered by private care services, is often cheaper than a stay in a home. In addition, Spitex offers tailor-made service packages for care, support and housekeeping that are geared towards the individual needs of the person in need of care. Irrespective of the work of the specialists, a maximum daily rate must be paid by the patient. In the canton of Zurich, the maximum amount per day is CHF 7.65 (10% of CHF 76.90 per day of care). In the canton of Aargau it is CHF 15.35 per day. The amount is charged in addition to the annual deductible and the statutory excess. This only applies to nursing services, not to care and housekeeping. Here, patients must bear the costs themselves, depending on their health insurance, insurance status and deductible.

However, once a certain level of care is required, living at home with the various support services is no longer the cheaper alternative. More precise calculations should be considered from care level 6.