As Richard pointed out it's not just the employed who have to pay. Unemployed people will pay exactly the same for health insurance (depending on age, area, gender) as employed people do.

So basically someone with a six figure salary makes the same contributions to the health system as someone with no salary at all. Very low income earners are given a rebate at the end of the year which could equate to about half of their insurance payments, but they still have to stump up the money in advance.

This contrasts sharply to other countries where the amount you pay into the health system depends on your income - poor pay less, rich pay more.

Just another small point - unemployed and self-employed people have to have their own accident insurance as was already pointed out, but the franchise (excess) will be the same as their sickness insurance.

In my case I had a 1500 franc franchise and had an accident in December. I had 3000 francs of expenses split over Dec/Jan. This meant I didn't get a single rappen from the insurance company which made me very angry.

So those of you who have your employer's accident insurance certainly have an easier time in the case of accidents.

A couple of other points:

1. Reimbursement of medical expenses is not always 100% as many seem to think. You get 90% back until you have paid something like 800-1000 francs out of your own pocket (over and above the franchise), and only after that will you get 100% back.

2. Usually, if your treatment is outside of a hospital (and many times also inside a hospital) you will be expected to show that you have paid, and a few months after paying you'll get the money back. Fine if you can afford to pay up front, but not fine if you are struggling to make ends meet and you suddenly have to find 10 or 20k to pay medical bills while you wait a few months to get the money back... Again - a serious and unfair disadvantage for the non-well-off.