Editorial

2024 was a special year for Helsana as we celebrated our 125-year anniversary. Our exciting – and eventful – story began on 10 December 1899, when 83 courageous men came together at the Sonne restaurant in the Unterstrass area of Zurich. At this meeting, they established the Swiss health insurance company Helvetia in response to their dissatisfaction with the management and services of the former Allgemeine Schweizerische Krankenkasse. They were inspired by the desire to create something better. It is a philosophy that we continue to follow and that still inspires us to write the next chapters of Helsana’s success story.

The Helsana Group is reporting an annual result of CHF 448 million and equity of CHF 3.2 billion for the financial year under review. The underwriting result came to a positive CHF 140 million, emphasising once again how solvent and reliable we are. Our supplementary insurance business developed positively during the reporting year in both the individual customer segment and the corporate division. In basic insurance, our forward-looking premium policy is geared to achieving a balanced underwriting result. We began aligning our premiums with rising healthcare costs two years ago now, generating a dual benefit for our customers: a sound financial foundation and lower-than-average increases in premiums for 2025 compared with the rest of the market. This is something that is highly appreciated: we were able to gain the trust of an additional 108,000 customers, further expanding our client base. Finally, we were again able to reduce the operating expense ratio.

2025 will bring change on two fronts. We are entering a new strategy period, and in autumn 2025, the role of the Chair of the Board of Directors will be handed over. This will lay the groundwork for the next phases of our success.

We would like to thank our more than 2 million customers for the loyalty and trust they showed us in 2024. Our gratitude also goes to our shareholders, partners, and all our employees. Their commitment is the foundation for our success.