Hi all,

this is my first message on this forum, so, first of all, the presentations: I am a PhD student at ETH from Italy, arrived about two months ago. This forum is a great resource, thanks for it.

Now to the issue. I know I need to get a health insurance, they even remember me by mail. However, I read that "persons staying in Switzerland for further education, namely students, are eligible for exemption provided they have equivalent insurance cover". Now, the Italian national health insurance would still cover me while I am here, can I then request such exemption?

Are there any other Italians doing (or having done) their PhD here?

Thanks.

Cheers,
G

See this thread.

The short answer is no! If you were on a short stay and had health cover from ITA then you would be exempt.

The closest you can get is a subsidy by the kanton. This is how it works.... after your 1st year here, you will receive a letter (multilanguage) outlining that you qualify fro assistance due to a low salary. Fill out all the necessary details, post back and your premiums will reduce by 50%.

You will receive the same letter at the end of every year... DO NOT forget to resend it as this will disqualify you for assistance.

Thanks for the reply. Indeed I was pretty sure that the answer was "no", I got a bit of hope while filling in the form to apply for swisscare, where it is stated that the "exemption is granted for the lenght of the training and stay, subject to a maximum of 3 years". 3 Years is actually the period I am supposed to stay here...

Have you read the thread that Blonaybear pointed you towards? You really should do so: Very cheap Swiss health insurance for students & researchers.

It is ultimately the kantonal health authority, and not the medical insurance company that gives you cover, that will decide on any sort of exemption.

I would suggest you save yourself the hassles involved and take out an insurance soonest (any exemption application is a lengthy process here and if you do not qualify you will be liable to pay backdated health premiums from the day you arrived in CH).

As stated in a previous thread there are discounted options for students and researchers.

OK, thanks to everyone, I had not read the other thread carefully at first.

I will definitely go for swisscare and avoid months of troubles.

Cheers,
G