Insurance Is Compulsory for Residence or for Work, and the Patient Pays the First CHF 500
Health insurance in Liechtenstein is compulsory, and the trigger is either of two things: having one’s civil-law domicile in the country, or pursuing a gainful activity there. The second limb matters because of who it catches - a cross-border worker who lives in Austria or Switzerland and works in Liechtenstein is inside the compulsory scheme for medical care. Cover is bought from a recognised sickness fund rather than from the state, and the Amt für Gesundheit supervises registration and will assign a person to a fund where necessary. The insured person pays a share of the cost: a fixed CHF 500 a year plus 20 per cent of the costs above it. Nobody under twenty pays anything. A person who has reached ordinary pension age pays no fixed amount - the state covers it - and their coinsurance is halved to 10 per cent. Residence law comes at it from the other side: every permit route in both the free-movement act and the aliens act requires proof of insurance covering all risks in Liechtenstein before the permit is granted.
At a glance
- Who must be insured for medical care
- Persons with their civil-law domicile in Liechtenstein or pursuing a gainful activity there
KVG article 7(1)(a). The second limb brings cross-border workers inside the scheme.
- Sickness benefit insurance
- Compulsory for employees over 15 working in Liechtenstein for an employer established there, and for recipients of parental allowance
KVG article 7(1)(b). This is a separate branch from medical care.
- Annual fixed cost share
- CHF 500
KVG article 23(2)(a), payable by insured persons who have reached the age of 20.
- Coinsurance above the fixed amount
- 20%
KVG article 23(2)(b).
- Cost sharing at pension age
- No fixed annual amount - the state pays it - and coinsurance of 10%
KVG article 23(2a) and (2b).
- Cost sharing under 20
- None
KVG article 23(3).
- Highest voluntary extra cost share
- CHF 3,500 a year, which every fund must offer
KVG article 23a(1). Choosing it reduces the premium correspondingly.
- Insurance as a condition of residence
- Required on every route
PFZG articles 17(1)(c), 18(2)(b), 22(1)(c) and 41(1)(e); AuG articles 19(1)(e), 20(1)(c) and 33(4)(b).
Requirements
- Civil-law domicile in Liechtenstein, or gainful activity in Liechtenstein - either one makes medical-care insurance compulsory
- Membership of a recognised sickness fund; the Amt für Gesundheit assigns one where necessary
- For a residence permit of any kind: proof of comprehensive sickness insurance cover for all risks in Liechtenstein, before the permit is granted
Country-level policy
Everything quoted in Liechtenstein’s records comes from Lilex, the consolidated law database of the government’s legal service at gesetze.li. Lilex says what it is: the consolidated provisions serve information only and have no legal effect. The authoritative text is elsewhere, and the Publication Act says exactly where - only the version of a provision published in the Landesgesetzblatt and electronically signed is massgebend, and for treaties and decisions of international organisations it is the texts designated authentic in them. That is a third answer to a question this corpus has now asked of three neighbours: Switzerland’s consolidations are themselves authoritative, Iceland’s gazette prevails over its code, and Liechtenstein separates the two the way Iceland does while publishing both at the same address.
Exceptions by origin
No exceptions recorded
Nothing we have read treats any nationality differently for this topic. The rule above applies to everyone.
What the law says
«Obligatorisch versichert sind: a) für Krankenpflege: Personen, die in Liechtenstein ihren zivilrechtlichen Wohnsitz haben oder eine Erwerbstätigkeit ausüben; 47 b) für Krankengeld: über 15jährige Arbeitnehmer, die in Liechtenstein für einen Arbeitgeber mit Sitz oder Niederlassung in Liechtenstein tätig sind sowie Personen, die Elterngeld im Sinne des Familienzulagen- und Erwerbsersatzgesetzes beziehen.»Our translation - not official
The following are compulsorily insured: a) for medical care: persons who have their civil-law domicile in Liechtenstein or pursue a gainful activity there; b) for sickness benefit: employees over 15 who work in Liechtenstein for an employer established or with a branch in Liechtenstein, and persons receiving parental allowance within the meaning of the Family Allowances and Loss of Earnings Act.
Two branches, two different trigger rules. Medical care follows domicile or work; sickness benefit follows employment by a Liechtenstein employer.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Rechtsdienst der Regierung's consolidated law database for Liechtenstein, covering national law and treaty law (Staatsvertragsrecht) under LR numbers, and reached at gesetze.li. It is tagesaktuell by its own account - 'Hier finden Sie tagesaktuell das geltende Landes- und Staatsvertragsrecht in konsolidierter (bereinigter) Form' - and it carries the EEA Agreement and its annexes as Liechtenstein treaty law, which is how the sectoral adaptations limiting free movement can be read here at all. The quotable text is at /konso/html/<LGBlId>, where LGBlId is the year plus the three-digit LGBl number plus 000: /konso/<LGBlId> alone is a shell with an iframe. Search works only with the whole parameter set, /konso/suche?search_text=&search_loc=text&lrnr=<LR>&lgblid_von=&observe_date=DD.MM.YYYY; omitting any one of them returns the help page with no results.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It is informative only and must never be cited as the authentic text. Its own Rechtshinweis says 'Konsolidierte Rechtsvorschriften dienen ausschliesslich der Information und entfalten keine Rechtswirkung', and article 7(1) of the Kundmachungsgesetz says only the signed electronic version published in the Landesgesetzblatt is massgebend. For a treaty it is the texts designated authentic in the treaty that govern, under article 7(2). It also cannot be cited for Swiss law applied in Liechtenstein: it lists which Swiss instruments apply but publishes none of their text, which lives on fedlex.admin.ch. Fetch it with Firecrawl rather than the direct route: the direct extractor does not decode named HTML entities and stores 'ü' as the five characters of its entity.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«In der Grundversicherung beteiligen sich die Versicherten, die das 20. Altersjahr vollendet haben, an den Kosten für die obligatorischen Leistungen bei Krankenpflege. 177 2) Diese Kostenbeteiligung besteht aus: 178 a) einem festen Betrag pro Kalenderjahr in Höhe von 500 Franken; und b) einem Selbstbehalt von 20 % der den festen Jahresbetrag übersteigenden Kosten. 2a) Der Selbstbehalt nach Abs. 2 Bst. b beträgt für Versicherte, die das ordentliche Rentenalter erreicht haben, 10 %. 179 2b) Versicherte, die das ordentliche Rentenalter erreicht haben, entrichten keine Kostenbeteiligung nach Abs. 2 Bst. a; die Kosten übernimmt der Staat. 180 3) Versicherte, die das 20. Altersjahr noch nicht vollendet haben, entrichten keine Kostenbeteiligung. 181 4) Aufgehoben 182 5) Die Regierung wird ermächtigt, die Kostenbeteiligung durch Verordnung der Teuerung anzupassen.»Our translation - not official
In the basic insurance, insured persons who have completed their 20th year of age share in the costs of the compulsory medical care benefits. 2) This cost sharing consists of: a) a fixed amount per calendar year of 500 francs; and b) a coinsurance of 20 % of the costs exceeding the fixed annual amount. 2a) The coinsurance under paragraph 2(b) is 10 % for insured persons who have reached ordinary pension age. 2b) Insured persons who have reached ordinary pension age pay no cost share under paragraph 2(a); the state bears those costs. 3) Insured persons who have not yet completed their 20th year of age pay no cost share. 4) Repealed 5) The government is empowered to adjust the cost sharing to inflation by ordinance.
About this source
The Rechtsdienst der Regierung's consolidated law database for Liechtenstein, covering national law and treaty law (Staatsvertragsrecht) under LR numbers, and reached at gesetze.li. It is tagesaktuell by its own account - 'Hier finden Sie tagesaktuell das geltende Landes- und Staatsvertragsrecht in konsolidierter (bereinigter) Form' - and it carries the EEA Agreement and its annexes as Liechtenstein treaty law, which is how the sectoral adaptations limiting free movement can be read here at all. The quotable text is at /konso/html/<LGBlId>, where LGBlId is the year plus the three-digit LGBl number plus 000: /konso/<LGBlId> alone is a shell with an iframe. Search works only with the whole parameter set, /konso/suche?search_text=&search_loc=text&lrnr=<LR>&lgblid_von=&observe_date=DD.MM.YYYY; omitting any one of them returns the help page with no results.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It is informative only and must never be cited as the authentic text. Its own Rechtshinweis says 'Konsolidierte Rechtsvorschriften dienen ausschliesslich der Information und entfalten keine Rechtswirkung', and article 7(1) of the Kundmachungsgesetz says only the signed electronic version published in the Landesgesetzblatt is massgebend. For a treaty it is the texts designated authentic in the treaty that govern, under article 7(2). It also cannot be cited for Swiss law applied in Liechtenstein: it lists which Swiss instruments apply but publishes none of their text, which lives on fedlex.admin.ch. Fetch it with Firecrawl rather than the direct route: the direct extractor does not decode named HTML entities and stores 'ü' as the five characters of its entity.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Das Amt für Gesundheit überwacht die Erfassung der obligatorisch Versicherten. Es ordnet die Art und Weise der Erfassung an. Die Arbeitgeber, Verwaltungsbehörden und Sozialversicherungsträger haben dabei eine Melde- und Kontrollpflicht. 54 2) Das Amt für Gesundheit weist nötigenfalls Versicherungspflichtige nach einem durch Verordnung festzulegenden Schlüssel den einzelnen Kassen zu.»Our translation - not official
The Office of Public Health supervises the registration of the compulsorily insured. It orders the manner of registration. Employers, administrative authorities and social insurance institutions have a duty to report and to cooperate in checks. 2) The Office of Public Health assigns compulsorily insured persons to the individual funds where necessary, according to a key to be laid down by ordinance.
About this source
The Rechtsdienst der Regierung's consolidated law database for Liechtenstein, covering national law and treaty law (Staatsvertragsrecht) under LR numbers, and reached at gesetze.li. It is tagesaktuell by its own account - 'Hier finden Sie tagesaktuell das geltende Landes- und Staatsvertragsrecht in konsolidierter (bereinigter) Form' - and it carries the EEA Agreement and its annexes as Liechtenstein treaty law, which is how the sectoral adaptations limiting free movement can be read here at all. The quotable text is at /konso/html/<LGBlId>, where LGBlId is the year plus the three-digit LGBl number plus 000: /konso/<LGBlId> alone is a shell with an iframe. Search works only with the whole parameter set, /konso/suche?search_text=&search_loc=text&lrnr=<LR>&lgblid_von=&observe_date=DD.MM.YYYY; omitting any one of them returns the help page with no results.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It is informative only and must never be cited as the authentic text. Its own Rechtshinweis says 'Konsolidierte Rechtsvorschriften dienen ausschliesslich der Information und entfalten keine Rechtswirkung', and article 7(1) of the Kundmachungsgesetz says only the signed electronic version published in the Landesgesetzblatt is massgebend. For a treaty it is the texts designated authentic in the treaty that govern, under article 7(2). It also cannot be cited for Swiss law applied in Liechtenstein: it lists which Swiss instruments apply but publishes none of their text, which lives on fedlex.admin.ch. Fetch it with Firecrawl rather than the direct route: the direct extractor does not decode named HTML entities and stores 'ü' as the five characters of its entity.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«ein umfassender Krankenversicherungsschutz nachgewiesen wird, der sämtliche Risiken in Liechtenstein abdeckt.»Our translation - not official
comprehensive sickness insurance cover is proved which covers all risks in Liechtenstein.
The same sentence appears in the student, tourist, non-active and family-reunification provisions of the Act.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Rechtsdienst der Regierung's consolidated law database for Liechtenstein, covering national law and treaty law (Staatsvertragsrecht) under LR numbers, and reached at gesetze.li. It is tagesaktuell by its own account - 'Hier finden Sie tagesaktuell das geltende Landes- und Staatsvertragsrecht in konsolidierter (bereinigter) Form' - and it carries the EEA Agreement and its annexes as Liechtenstein treaty law, which is how the sectoral adaptations limiting free movement can be read here at all. The quotable text is at /konso/html/<LGBlId>, where LGBlId is the year plus the three-digit LGBl number plus 000: /konso/<LGBlId> alone is a shell with an iframe. Search works only with the whole parameter set, /konso/suche?search_text=&search_loc=text&lrnr=<LR>&lgblid_von=&observe_date=DD.MM.YYYY; omitting any one of them returns the help page with no results.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It is informative only and must never be cited as the authentic text. Its own Rechtshinweis says 'Konsolidierte Rechtsvorschriften dienen ausschliesslich der Information und entfalten keine Rechtswirkung', and article 7(1) of the Kundmachungsgesetz says only the signed electronic version published in the Landesgesetzblatt is massgebend. For a treaty it is the texts designated authentic in the treaty that govern, under article 7(2). It also cannot be cited for Swiss law applied in Liechtenstein: it lists which Swiss instruments apply but publishes none of their text, which lives on fedlex.admin.ch. Fetch it with Firecrawl rather than the direct route: the direct extractor does not decode named HTML entities and stores 'ü' as the five characters of its entity.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
Practical notes
Cover is compulsory but it is bought from a sickness fund, not from the state. This record does not state premium levels: the Act leaves them to the funds under its financing chapter, and we did not read a premium schedule.
The second limb of article 7(1)(a) - gainful activity - is the provision that answers the cross-border worker’s question, and it is also the reason the question has a different answer here than in a country where insurance follows residence alone.
This record rests on the Krankenversicherungsgesetz, with the residence-law insurance conditions taken from the PFZG and the AuG. We did not read the Krankenversicherungsverordnung.
- consolidatesGesetz über die Krankenversicherung (KVG), LGBl. 1971 Nr. 050
Lilex - Gesetzesdatenbank des Fürstentums Liechtenstein · consolidated to 2026-01-01
About this source
The Rechtsdienst der Regierung's consolidated law database for Liechtenstein, covering national law and treaty law (Staatsvertragsrecht) under LR numbers, and reached at gesetze.li. It is tagesaktuell by its own account - 'Hier finden Sie tagesaktuell das geltende Landes- und Staatsvertragsrecht in konsolidierter (bereinigter) Form' - and it carries the EEA Agreement and its annexes as Liechtenstein treaty law, which is how the sectoral adaptations limiting free movement can be read here at all. The quotable text is at /konso/html/<LGBlId>, where LGBlId is the year plus the three-digit LGBl number plus 000: /konso/<LGBlId> alone is a shell with an iframe. Search works only with the whole parameter set, /konso/suche?search_text=&search_loc=text&lrnr=<LR>&lgblid_von=&observe_date=DD.MM.YYYY; omitting any one of them returns the help page with no results.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It is informative only and must never be cited as the authentic text. Its own Rechtshinweis says 'Konsolidierte Rechtsvorschriften dienen ausschliesslich der Information und entfalten keine Rechtswirkung', and article 7(1) of the Kundmachungsgesetz says only the signed electronic version published in the Landesgesetzblatt is massgebend. For a treaty it is the texts designated authentic in the treaty that govern, under article 7(2). It also cannot be cited for Swiss law applied in Liechtenstein: it lists which Swiss instruments apply but publishes none of their text, which lives on fedlex.admin.ch. Fetch it with Firecrawl rather than the direct route: the direct extractor does not decode named HTML entities and stores 'ü' as the five characters of its entity.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- consolidatesPersonenfreizügigkeitsgesetz (PFZG), LGBl. 2009 Nr. 348
Lilex - Gesetzesdatenbank des Fürstentums Liechtenstein · consolidated to 2026-01-01
About this source
The Rechtsdienst der Regierung's consolidated law database for Liechtenstein, covering national law and treaty law (Staatsvertragsrecht) under LR numbers, and reached at gesetze.li. It is tagesaktuell by its own account - 'Hier finden Sie tagesaktuell das geltende Landes- und Staatsvertragsrecht in konsolidierter (bereinigter) Form' - and it carries the EEA Agreement and its annexes as Liechtenstein treaty law, which is how the sectoral adaptations limiting free movement can be read here at all. The quotable text is at /konso/html/<LGBlId>, where LGBlId is the year plus the three-digit LGBl number plus 000: /konso/<LGBlId> alone is a shell with an iframe. Search works only with the whole parameter set, /konso/suche?search_text=&search_loc=text&lrnr=<LR>&lgblid_von=&observe_date=DD.MM.YYYY; omitting any one of them returns the help page with no results.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It is informative only and must never be cited as the authentic text. Its own Rechtshinweis says 'Konsolidierte Rechtsvorschriften dienen ausschliesslich der Information und entfalten keine Rechtswirkung', and article 7(1) of the Kundmachungsgesetz says only the signed electronic version published in the Landesgesetzblatt is massgebend. For a treaty it is the texts designated authentic in the treaty that govern, under article 7(2). It also cannot be cited for Swiss law applied in Liechtenstein: it lists which Swiss instruments apply but publishes none of their text, which lives on fedlex.admin.ch. Fetch it with Firecrawl rather than the direct route: the direct extractor does not decode named HTML entities and stores 'ü' as the five characters of its entity.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- consolidatesAusländergesetz (AuG), LGBl. 2008 Nr. 311
Lilex - Gesetzesdatenbank des Fürstentums Liechtenstein · consolidated to 2026-06-12
About this source
The Rechtsdienst der Regierung's consolidated law database for Liechtenstein, covering national law and treaty law (Staatsvertragsrecht) under LR numbers, and reached at gesetze.li. It is tagesaktuell by its own account - 'Hier finden Sie tagesaktuell das geltende Landes- und Staatsvertragsrecht in konsolidierter (bereinigter) Form' - and it carries the EEA Agreement and its annexes as Liechtenstein treaty law, which is how the sectoral adaptations limiting free movement can be read here at all. The quotable text is at /konso/html/<LGBlId>, where LGBlId is the year plus the three-digit LGBl number plus 000: /konso/<LGBlId> alone is a shell with an iframe. Search works only with the whole parameter set, /konso/suche?search_text=&search_loc=text&lrnr=<LR>&lgblid_von=&observe_date=DD.MM.YYYY; omitting any one of them returns the help page with no results.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: It is informative only and must never be cited as the authentic text. Its own Rechtshinweis says 'Konsolidierte Rechtsvorschriften dienen ausschliesslich der Information und entfalten keine Rechtswirkung', and article 7(1) of the Kundmachungsgesetz says only the signed electronic version published in the Landesgesetzblatt is massgebend. For a treaty it is the texts designated authentic in the treaty that govern, under article 7(2). It also cannot be cited for Swiss law applied in Liechtenstein: it lists which Swiss instruments apply but publishes none of their text, which lives on fedlex.admin.ch. Fetch it with Firecrawl rather than the direct route: the direct extractor does not decode named HTML entities and stores 'ü' as the five characters of its entity.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source