The same CHF 560. More than twice the help.

The contrast matters because Switzerland is preparing a new supplementary benefit for help and care at home. From 1 January 2028, cantons will pay monthly flat rate allowances for services such as household help to eligible people who live at home, apply and have an assessed need. The reform is intended to make support at home more accessible. Each canton will set the amounts under the federal rules.

An allowance should be judged by the help it buys, not just the francs it promises. As cantons prepare the new rules, the practical question is how much support people can afford where they live. At Helpore, we want to make household help easier to arrange and more affordable, without compromising Helpers’ rights.

Gilberto de la Fuente, Director at Helpore

For household help, the Federal Council's dispatch combines CHF 35 an hour with 16 hours a month to illustrate a CHF 560 monthly guide value. Comparing that guide value with published tariffs shows how many hours it would buy.

Household help is one part of the reform. The federal framework also covers emergency call systems, meal services, escort and transport. The CHF 560 figure belongs only to the Federal Council's household help example. Cantons will decide how their monthly allowances work within the law.

A person paying SPITEX BASEL's current household help tariff of CHF 57 an hour could buy 9.8 hours with CHF 560. At Spitex Chur's current maximum client tariff of CHF 26, the same sum could buy 21.5 hours.

The work of turning the federal reform into cantonal rules is beginning. St Gallen's published timetable schedules consultation for October and November 2026, followed by a government decision in January 2027. The new rules take effect across Switzerland on 1 January 2028. Published tariffs offer a useful reference while those decisions are being prepared.

Eleven selected tariffs buy less than 16 hours

Helpore examined one selected Spitex household help provider or published tariff rule in each of Switzerland's 26 cantons. The comparison includes 25 numerical tariffs. Eleven were above CHF 35 an hour, so CHF 560 would buy less than 16 hours. Each observation represents one selected provider, service area or published rule. Prices within a canton can vary by provider, municipality, membership, income and other conditions.

Basel and Chur illustrate how client tariffs and subsidies change the hours that CHF 560 would buy. SPITEX BASEL lists CHF 57 an hour for household help. It also lists a CHF 8.80 charge per visit, which is not deducted from the 9.8 hour calculation. Spitex Chur states that clients pay a maximum of CHF 26 an hour for household help. At that client maximum, 16 hours cost CHF 416. At the Basel hourly tariff, 16 hours cost CHF 912 before visit charges.

In Chur, the full cost is CHF 91.50 an hour while subsidies limit the client tariff to CHF 26. Tariff structures therefore change the share paid by the client. That distinction is central to the 2028 discussion: the same budget can buy very different amounts of practical support under local prices and funding rules.

The difference is tangible. At the selected Basel tariff, the guide value falls 6.2 hours short of the 16 hour monthly example, even before the visit charge. At Chur's maximum client tariff, it covers 16 hours with 5.5 hours of buying power remaining. For someone arranging regular household support, that gap changes how much practical help the same budget can cover.

How we compared the tariffs

Helpore selected one main provider, service area or tariff rule for each canton, usually in the cantonal capital or from a canton wide organisation. Hours equal CHF 560 divided by the selected published client tariff, measured against the dispatch's 16 hour monthly example. Some prices depend on income, membership or another condition. Travel charges, visit charges and minimum visit lengths are excluded, so the hours can be an upper limit. Source dates vary, and some documents are older or undated but remain linked as current. The detailed data keeps the source date, service area and conditions with each observation.

This comparison measures the purchasing power of one federal guide value at selected published tariffs. The 2028 rules will determine cantonal amounts and eligibility for each person and provider. The next question is whether each canton's eventual amount reflects the prices people face where they live.

Sources

• Federal Council dispatch, BBl 2024 2448
• Federal law amendment, AS 2026 434
• Federal Social Insurance Office explanation
• SPITEX BASEL tariff sheet
• Spitex Chur tariffs
• St Gallen implementation timetable