Hi all

I've been looking into health insurance this week. I understand the system and how the deductible works, but I'm having trouble deciding the best level of deductible for me, as I can't find details of any of the costs.

For example, I have mild asthma which usually involves visiting a doctor 2-3 times a year for a repeat prescription of inhalers (salbutamol and Qvar in the UK). Does anyone know how much a short visit plus a couple of inhalers is likely to cost? And do they have a concept of 'repeat prescriptions' by telephone/ letter, or will I have to book a visit each time?

Apart from that, I'm usually well, so once I can work out these costs I can see which level of deductible will be the most cost-effective for me.

Thanks very much for any help you can give.

kodokan

First of all, if you're at the doctor's 2-3 times/year, that'll probably make 400-600 CHF. Add some visits to other doctors and you're easily at 1'000 CHF. Any deductible below that is not technically worth it as you merely pay your insurance for giving you back your own money. On the other side, statistically the deductibles don't really save you a lot - unless you don't get sick. With a 1'200 CHF deductible you can perhaps save 1'250 CHF in premiums ... or whatever. Add to that that there are some laws and regulations that require insurers to do weird things (mine once told me to take a lower deductible as the higher one cost me almost the same in premiums). In my mind, it's not really worth fussing about. Make an informed guess and see what happens. You can always change the deductible.

"Permanent" prescriptions are often issued for 6 months and deposited at your pharmacy (choose one conveniently close) where you can pick up refills as needed. No paperwork. They keep track of your refills and ask you when something's strange about your consumption. After 6 months you go back to your doctor.

Cheers

Eeek, good job I asked, as that's much higher than I was guessing!

Tedious UK doctor always makes me come for a pointless 'tick the box' check-up once a year, but between times I get by on just picking up prescriptions - sounds like it'll be similar there, and I'll have to get clever on timings with picking up more inhalers just before the 6 months thingie runs out.

Thanks very much, I'll go back to comparis, run some more numbers and *sucks finger, sticks in air* do my best guess at a deductible. I suppose I'll know after the first year if I got it wrong.

Cheers

kodokan

You might wish to contact a forum member called jenny. She lives in Vevey, which is just up the road from Lausanne, and she offers free advice on health and other types of insurance. She can probably help you determine which provider and deductible would be best for you and your family given your specific needs. She can probably give you a more reliable estimate of what your health care costs will be as well.

Read more about it (and find out how to contact her) here.

HeatherM

Ahhh, yes, I saw some mention of Jenny doing insurance a month or so ago, and it promptly fell out of my head (that's organising international moves for you).

I'll make a proper note of her name, and perhaps get in touch with her once we're over - we're getting some 'hand holding' by my husband's company so they might sort out insurance for us, but if not, I've now got a back up plan.

(And my own personal Lausanne-based fount of all knowledge this evening, too! Thanks.)

kodokan

Hi kodokan

being cursed with asthma too I had a similar experience with my doctor's visits. After you know your medication one just needs refills.

You can ask your doctor for a one-year prescription although pharmacies don't seem to like it much. Since I'm going to the same one for some years the questioning has stopped though..

Rahip

Very helpful topic... Thank you for posting this.

Is it really that common in Switzerland to get a 6 month long prescription for those with chronic conditions? That would help me out tremendously.

you can ask for it, depending on the abuse potential they're gonna give it or not. For example even if one gets Methadon (heroin substitute) prescribed it's unlikely to get a long term one to repeat at will..

And as I mentioned above, maximum one year if you ask for it, again depending on what it is you have to get. Ask your doc!

Rahip

Oh yes I totally can see that for opiate type pain medications I need occasionally...

I was more reffering to boring old immune system modulators for Crohn's disease... Nothing exciting there... No buzz, no addiction potential.

Thanks for the reply..

Find a friendly doctor. Mine is amenable to answering the phone and sending me a repeat prescription.

If you consistently require medication, consider a mail-order pharmacy. They offer a discount and waive some of the fees. Depending on your insurer, the mail-order pharmacy is even prepared to directly invoice the insurer.

Disadvantage of mail order: delay of 2 working days, i.e. not suitable for urgent medications. Also, if not at home, the parcel must be collected at the nearest post-office. That may not be convenient for hardworking singles.