Here the same.... do we have a quota every given number of posts?

Anyway, THANK YOU Heather for this post!!

Hi Sarah,

Yes there is an "excess" or "deductible" on basic cover. You can choose your deductible and people in general good health go for a high one as the premiums are so high with the low ones that it actually works out cheaper to pay for the odd doctor visit yourself and save on monthly premiums.

For glasses, basic cover (the compulsory/expensive bit) will cover you 180.- every 5 years. Yoopi...
With supplementary (the extra, non-compulsory bit) every company is different. I'd say an average would be 200.- every 3 years although some companies will cover you 250.- every year, some cover 100.- per annum which you can cumulate up to a max. of 500.- after 5 years.

I usually advise people with contact lenses to go for the 250.- p.a. option as, although it's slightly more expensive per month, you're getting more back in the long run.
It's rare for those of us who only wear glasses to change every year so I tend to recommend either a less expensive option or a different company. Depends on the other needs of the person.

For more info on deductibles/excesses/franchises :

"What is a 'franchise'?

This is an amount of money that you elect to pay before claiming on your health policy, similar to 'excess' or 'deductible' on car insurance in order to reduce the cost of the premium.

It is worth bearing in mind that the franchise operates on an annual basis and not on a per-case basis. Therefore should you have a claim that crosses two financial years then you will pay two separate amounts even if it is for the same illness or accident."

Heather explains the system pretty well at the beginning of this post

great thanks that makes much more sense to me now! i'll be ordering my contacts right now on my current health fund!! -S

Thank you for this very useful thread. I do have one question though - in the first post Heather writes that "basic insurance is identical regardless of which company you purchase from" - what I don't understand is how insurance companies can charge such different prices if the services they provide are really identical. If the services are really identical, why doesn't everyone just go to the cheapest insurer? Do some companies offer anything `on top' of the insurance services that they have to cover in their basic insurance policies? I'm just wondering whether it's really worth comparing the terms of various insurers for a basic coverage? Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

The prices are different because the competing insurers all make their own calculations. Also price is only one factor for choosing the insurance. Some customers can't be bothered to change their insurer every year or miss the deadline. Others trust their more expensive insurer because they have experienced fast and adequate service there.

Hi,

Great FAQ. I have a question that I can't seem to find answered anywhere.

I am changing from being employed to being Self Employed. So I thought I would only have to pay the extra on accident insurance. My health insurance company says it is a total of 300 CHF/month extra, not what it says on Comparis, because when you work for a regular GmbH or company in Switzerland, they are paying into a collective Accident Insurance, which helps reduce the per person cost.

Is this crap or for real?

Thanks for any ideas,
BruceFan

Yep. Something wrong there. CHF300/ month is more than my total health costs. I'd ask them for a breakdown of this cost and what you get for it. Presumable it's to pay you for being unable to work. I paid about CHF25/month extra for this but cancelled it some years ago it it only paid CHF100/ day after 30 days' illness...

I am very likely moving to the Geneva area in September and would love to talk to an English speaking health insurance adviser. I clicked on the 'jenny' hyperlink in the above FAQ by heather, but it seems to be no longer available.'
Anyone else out there? I have some considerable health issues that only a discussion, either by phone or email, can sort out to my satisfaction.
Thanks all, and this is great forum! Glad to be part of it!

A forum update broke this link some time ago. The correct link is this one now.

I'm still here!

Yep, you sure are.
Did you happen to receive a personal message I sent you a couple days ago inquiring about health insurance issues?

You can call Jenny, she has her number listed in her signature. Good luck.

Yes, thanks. Jenny pm'd me a while ago with info and I just sent her another ?.
Thanks
Steve

Hi, my name is Colin And my wife and daughter will be in Switzerland for the next 4 months. They both have swiss paaports , my question is , is that I need to get tempoaray health insurance for them both for the duration. Can anyone kindly point me in the right direction or tell me about their own experiences?
thanks alot-Colin

You should contact Jenny, a member here. She's the first post above. She works in the insurance industry in Geneva, I'm fairly certain and may be able to give you some good advice. Good luck!

Thanks a bunch! I have contacted her.

I know that a trained chimp is more organised than me but I thought I would pass on a gentle reminder (having been caught out myself in the past), if you are thinking of changing your health insurance, most of them require that you give notice by end of September.

If you forget, in most cases, you are locked in for another year then there's the chance the next September will come and go again (err.. in my case, anyway ...)

For supplementary

For basic you have until the end of November

I am turning in my application for insurance tomorrow and just found out that I need to choose a Doctor for my HMO. I know how I would go about this in the U.S., but I've been here long enough to know that things are usually more complicated here and its best to ask for advise on the front end.

So... any advice on how to choose a doctor in a foreign country in 24 hours or less? I will need someone who speaks English. Thanks!

I have a traditional basic insurance (free choice of doctors) with 1500 chf annual "franchise". I am now considering a supplementary insurance, mainly to cover a partu of my tri weekly TCM treatments, contacts/glasses and a possible fitness membership. I have three questions:

1)
Does the supplementary insurance follow the 1500 chf franchise rule of my basic insurance or is this completely separate from that? I know that you don´t have to have both insurances with the same company.

2)
How do I find the best supplementary insurance for me? I searched for the link on comparis.ch but did not find one.

3)
I know the traditional basic insurance only gives you access to the hospitals in your own area but are there restrictions regarding which hospitals in my area I can use? In other words; does it give me access to the best hospitals as well? (I live in Zurich)