cantonal hospital only and all others in case of emergencies.

I would ask around your area. Recommendations of doctors seems to work better by word of mouth - especially if you know English speakers who live near you.

EU Students - I didn't see this mentioned, but one exception to the 3-month requirement in the FAQ is for EU students: As long as they are enrolled, their native social health insurance is accepted cover. For me that meant any medical costs incurred here while a registered student could be recovered from the Irish government and I didn't have to pay insurance premiums while studying.

I read not long ago, that someone was asking "what if the Insurance Company takes several months to insure you? Will you have to pay these months?"
Remember that there is also the issue of the residency permit...that almost never takes the three months they say it would take ... well I have the answer, you get a humongous bill of CHF 3,000 , that's it.
So be prepared, you are not covered yet, but save the money...you will have to pay it eventually! In my opinion the system is lousy, complicated and you almost never get what you want in terms of coverage.

The law: You must be insured from the first day of the month that you arrived in Switzerland, so if you got here, let's say July 28th, you still have to pay that month in full! or you can , if you still have, send proof of insurance and get a reduction on your bill...

Think inside the box, welcome to Switzerland!

I am not clear about something..
When should you choose your health insurance and should apply for one? Before arrival in Switzerland or after?
I read somewhere (and I cannot find it now) that you have 3 months to select and do it all... I am flying end of the month and now I am lost and concerned that I don't have any

See the post above yours. You will need to get a residency permit before signing up for insurance. Actually you can start both processes as soon as you arrive and are working. The permit takes about two months or more to receive, but the insurance company will insure you from the time your job starts if you contact them when you arrive and start working.
At least this is how it worked for me. Others might have a different story.
Good luck!

Great FAQ!

hi,

a great set of information. Currently my wife and I have separate health insurance policies with Gruppe Mutuel which means that we are paying between close to 800 Sfr a month. In over 20 years in Switzerland I have never received any money from the health insurance as any bills I have incurred have never been greater than the franchise.

My question, does it exist or make any sense to have a combined health insurance and would it reduce the costs significantly ?

As I get older the frightening cost of health insurance here worries me.

Thanks
Martin

We have been very satisfied with the insurance agent NVC (based in Basel). It seems their services have changed a bit since we started working with them and they are now primarily focussing on ex-pats. You may want to give them a call.
www.nvc.ch

A very well written primer on the Swiss Health Insurance System was forwarded to me. This released by the Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA, and Federal Office of Public Health FOPH.

hello,
I'm resident in France and have a carte vitale (french medical card). If I were to work in Switzerland as a cross border commuter with a permit G, would I need to take out Swiss medical insurance? I'm hoping no since you cannot opt out of the French social security system even if you have cover elsewhere (and the payments are expensive). Just to be clear, I am looking at a 9 month contract in Switzerland and am self employed in France. I need to look into this, but I assume I would just continue to state my earnings as when I worked in France and continue paying French tax and social security, which gives me the carte vitale medical cover.

Hope this is the right place to ask! I've been looking through the forums and can't find any information on this so would be grateful for any help.

thanks,
Linda

Here's one - what we have a couple of bills sent to us just as we're deregistering and cancelling our health insurance? As the costs were incurred while we were covered, will they still try to stiff us out of repaying the money as we're no longer with them?

Presumably you have given 3 months notice to cancel your insurance from the 30th June. Your existing insurer is liable for any bills up to that date.

Nope - only found out last Friday that we're off and I was going on the 1st post here saying that if you're leaving Switzerland then you can terminate at any time.

The insurers are still liable for the bills.

Yay! Thanks for that!

Hi All,

This infor has been VERY helpful. I have one question, does basic insurance cover pre existing conditions such as diabetes? If not then what are the best options for someone with diabetes?

Thank you!

Diabetes is covered in the compulsory insurance. They will probably reject your application for supplementary though...

Can I suggest you read through the thread here completely, and contact Jenny - I can highly recommend her.

We are finding the system excellent...

Not everything on this thread, though, is true...

You have to pay and are covered by the compulsory insurance technically from the day you arrive. You have three months to set things up but if you *are* covered from the day you arrive, and you *do* have to backpay...sometimes the date can be fudged, or is taken from the 1st of the month you arrive - my experience is that using an insurance broker (Jenny) was worth it.

Your compulsory health insurance can cost less than 250chf a month...the price does vary a bit. It's not any more expensive if you have diabetes - this is the *wonderful* thing about the system - compulsory is the same, covers the same stuff for everyone...

Also, it depends if your employer covers your accident/sickness insurance - so for example my insurance is higher than my husbands because I am not working so my premium includes my accident/sickness, whereas he doesn't need it because his employer pays for it...

I'll PM you about the diabetes info...

This is correct.

The basic (or compulsory) part of the insurance is also the "social" side of it.
The supplementary is the private sector.

This is why every company has to give strictly identical cover for basic insurance whereas in the supplementary they can cover what they like (though they're all going to try and remain competitive obviously).

The basic insurance covers any pre-existing conditions that you may have so no worries there but Swisspea is right. The chances are that you'll get refused for supplementary insurance.
You can always try and get cover. They may accept you for it but put a "reserve" on the diabetes. This means that it would still be covered under the basic but not under the supplementary.
If you were to need the supplementary for anything else (not related to the diabetes) it would still be covered.

This is a big "maybe". They may or may not be ok to give you the supplementary with a reserve.

One thing you should think about when applying for the basic part is your deductible. If your average annual costs are (or are likely to be) high then you may be better off with a 300.- deductible.

For more info. on deductibles :

Deductible / Excess / Franchise - which is the best one to choose?

Thanks muze7, I have been unsuccessfully trying to find out how to thank a user in this forum. I hope after a certain number of posts on this forum, I will also be able to see a button. A google search using the site: modifier helped to find your post, but searching using the forum search didn't bring anything interesting.