Hi, everyone

I am new to Zurich and need some advice about medical treatment. To begin with, I have checked lots of threads in the forum but did not get what I need.

My situation: I am a hepatitis B virus (HBV) carrier since years ago, so I would to consult a Doctor, do some regular medical checking and take necessary medicines.

My question:
(1) Which hospital to go?
Anyone knows which hospital in Zurich is good at liver disease treatment? or there is no difference I just go to any hospital.
(2) Insurance issue
My insurance does not pay for preexisting medical condition and to my information no company would cover it. Anyone knows which insurance company could potentially pays for existing disease? or should I argue with my current insurance company? One thread in the forum said it is possible if my doctor writes a letter to the company and say if I am not get treated now the company may pay more later.

Any advice is welcomed. Thanks in advance.

Your first line of enquiry should be to your insurance provider, as I understand it , basic insurance in Switzerland cannot exclude pre-existing conditions. I may be wrong on that one.

They will also be able to provide you with the contact details for a preferred Dr/Clinic.

That's correct, but the OP might have to pay a bit higher premium. I sorted out some health insurance for a colleague that just moved over here (bringing all sorts of ailments) and he got the coverage he needed.

Once the insurance is sorted out, I would recommend going to a GP (Hausarzt) as a first stop (sometimes basic insurance make this a necessary step, preventing patients going off to all sorts of specialists, maybe needlessly) and he will make a referral.

You're correct. Basic insurance cannot exclude pre-existing conditions. Supplementary insurance, however, can.

Thanks for all your replies.

I will contact my insurance provider first.

It is a little bit wired, in my insurance card, it is said "For all hospitalization, you must contact our 24h 7/7 emergency service", but I could not get through the hotline even in office hours. Anyone is using Swisscare here?

I guess I need to send them an email instead.

I wouldn't try the hotline - that sounds like it's for a medical emergency (although, it is a bit disconcerting that they don't pick up the phone!). Try their website here, where they have contact info and a chat window.

Go and see your local doctor. They'll refer you to the best hospital and start with any treatment you need.

You are covered under the basic insurance, so if you need treatment spend your money lowering your franchaise and not on supplementary insurance that doesn't cover your pre-existing condition.

As long as we're on the topic, I am a new arrival as well and applied for coverage via Swiss Health International (www.swisshealth.info). I was honest about my preexisting condition (a rare sort o' disease but no big deal with commonly available medication). After a few days I received an email from Vanbreda International who told me: "We hereby inform you that our Medical Consultant has analysed your Medical Questionnaire. We regret to inform you that we cannot accept your affiliation request into expatplus. Consequently, we cannot proceed with your application request for you into expatplus." I also learned that Vanbreda is the plan administrator for Swiss Health International.

Can anyone tell me what's going on here? Did they break Swiss law by denying me coverage, or did I do something. I was able to get some meds I need but am a little worried now that I've been rejected once. Do the Swiss not allow ill people to live here? Will I always be rejected?


On a related note, am I better off lying on any medical questionairre?


Thanks!

You are best going with one of the Swiss insurers used by the Swiss rather than a picky expat insurance which covers only the super-healthy. The Swiss insurers have to give you at least basic coverage which will cater for your existing condition...

Try looking at Comparis.ch for some options.

I had a quick look at the Site. The very fact that the currency used is Euros or Dollars and not Swiss Francs only strengthens the idea that this is not a normal Swiss Health Insurance Site at all. Covering Private Hospital treatment is not on the cards for a 'basic insurance' which is what you will need for a pre-existing condition. I'm sure there are enough Threads on here talking about this. Otherwise, have a look for posts by Jenny, who is our expert on the subject.

This Comparis site will allow you to find out prices for you in the various regions of Switzerland to start you off.



Beaten into second place by Sandgrounder the Swift.

You got the point. I searched around this forum and found out that SWISSCARE uses different policies which exclude preexisting medical conditions. Guess I should change to a 'normal' insurance provider.

Glad we could help.
And in return, how about writing us a nice Introduction so that we know a more about you than your medical history and that your location is Zürich.
Welcome to the Forum.

Thank you.
I am a 26 yrs old researcher in ETH and live in Zurich city now.
Not sure if it is a good self-introduction, I am reluctant to expose more personal details. I have been used to hide this sad aspect of life from touching. In my home country, people believe HBV can be transmitted through daily contacts, such as shaking hands, thanks to stupid medical advertisements and public media. Everyone need to be screened for HBV at important times of life, e.g. entering a college or starting a new job. HBV carriers are biased everywhere. They would be exclude from most of the companies and even some public universities (schools), eventually the right to live. That's explain why I am in Zurich now

Sorry if I gave the wrong impression. It's not 'private' stuff we want to know. A bit of a hint about age and interests as you now posted above, helps us to get the feeling there is a guy, a gal out there. A word about the sort of work you do is good too. We have the Info now, but actually I meant you to post it in the Introduction Forum anyway. There, with a bit of luck, you get a few folk welcoming you to the Forum, which is quite nice when you first arrive here.

Call your insurance as previous posters have said, the hotline is just a number that is active 24 hours (at least for Swica it is), they can not deny you treatment as for instance I had asthma previously and I still get treated. Get the number of a GP near you, go there and then maybe they can treat you or they will refer you to an immunologist if I am not mistaken.

Best of luck!

In order to live in Switzerland you need to have what is called a "basic" insurance plan. They cannot refuse you the plan, nor treatment for preexisting conditions. Swisscare is one provider of these basic plans, and they themselves has on their website a government pamphlet explaining the basics. However, they also offer other plans, so you should make sure of what type of plan you have.

Your choice of plan can and should be affected by your expected medical bills. Essentially if you have low medical bills, you are better off with a plan with a high deductible (franchise they like to call it here), if you expect sufficiently high bills, you are better off with a plan with a low deductible.

If you have a basic plan already, you need to use it to take care of your treatments. If you don't have one, you need to sign up for one, and not just to handle your treatments. I believe that you can only change between basic insurance providers during a certain time period around the end of the year. The comparis website mentioned previously will let you see a comparison of what basic plans cost from different companies.

Apparently there is a free set of EF drinks coasters for every introduction post.

Cheers,
Nick

Got it. Thanks a lot.

I got contact with swisscare today and had a quite positive reply. I am free to go to any specialist.
Thanks for all your warm hearted guys here.