Hi all,

I've started through the murk of health insurance and had a few questions if anyone has experience:

- I've seen that health insurance does not cover contraception (pills, IUD, etc.). Does the cost expended count at all toward your deductible? Does anyone have any experience getting birth control pills covered by insurance for non-baby-preventing reasons (e.g., dysmenorrhea, ovarian cysts)? [side: is it not ridiculous that having an abortion is covered by basic health insurance, but birth control is not? but we don't need to get into that]

- I'm considering SWICA (telmed) due to their good reviews and options for communication in English. If anyone has any wildly differing views, would love to hear them! Also if anyone has the SWICA Completa Top supplement and thinks its worth the additional cost, I would be interested.

- If I understand it, the basic insurance covers hospitalization at some hospitals (just public?) in Zurich canton. We could get an add-on to get hospitalization at other public and private hospitals under contract to SWICA (general ward). Given that the basic includes emergencies outside the canton and Zurich has (I'm assuming) good public hospitals, is there a good reason to get this add-on?

Thanks for any input!

Anyone? Right now, the last question is most important to me - any thoughts on whether we should get the further network of hospitals? Thanks!

Hi there,

I am with SWICA - and have the Completa option (and a couple of other smaller additional options). They still worked out pretty cheap for me (in comparison to other providers - as opposed to what i paid in the UK!). I have, fortunately, not had to use their services yet - but I took the Completa on the recommendation of my Swiss partner.

From what he explained, you get much better service (non-junior doctors), can get treated in any canton (i.e. if you get food poisoning on holiday in Ticino, you dont have to go back to Zurich to get treated) and you get more privacy in the hospital (I think you share a room with one other person, rather than with a ward). The other Swiss friends I spoke to also seemed to think it was worth the money if you should fall sick. However, its a personal choice.

Hello,

I recently just got my confirmation for my policy with Swica. I really liked the customer service I received (in English) but what's strange is that the confirmation of my policy is in German.

I can't answer your first question as I haven't submitted any expenses. But I have Completa Top and added Completa Praeventa (an extra 9.40/month). The Praeventa package allows me to claim fitness benefits up to 500/year and also has claim allowance of 100/year for dental. So paying the extra 113/year will be worth it if you go to the dentist or have fitness benefits to claim.

I believe that the base option for the hospital stay is already fairly comprehensive (with less selection for doctors and in the general ward). That being said, I am slightly more risk adverse so I opted for the half private option which with a hospital room with two people max. The cost for that increased my premium by an additional 67.10/month.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for information.

No, the cost of contraception is not covered and does not count towards your deductible. As far as I know, even if you are using the pill for non-contraceptive reasons, it will not be covered (put it this way: I do this, and my gynaecologist has never said that I am entitled to claim on my insurance). In my experience, insurance companies are quite rigid...

However, the pill is not that expensive (about 45chf for a 3 month supply).

does anybody know which insurance is better in terms of pregnancy?

As far as the basic insurance is concerned the cover is identical with all companies.