Hi all

Im new to Switzerland and the forum, and have a rather unique situation.....

I was born in New Zealand, but am also a Swiss citizen as my father was born here. I have registered as being in the country, and am told the health insurance is compulsary. However, I only plan on living and working here for a few months.

What I would like to know, is if I buy travel insurance (which will cover all medical costs), is this sufficient to keep the powers that be happy? travel insurance makes more sense as I will be making side trips around Europe and would like to be covered for lost baggage, stolen goods etc as well as my health. However, Im not keen on paying twice for health, especially as it is hideously expensive here!

The other thing I was kinda wondering....how do they regulate whether or not one has health insurance. If I decided to take my chances (obviously not a good idea, but Im just wondering here), would they know that I have no insurance cover, if i never needed to claim?

any advice would be fantastic!

You have no choice, they have your address and will send you a bill for a random obligatory insurance company if you do not choose your own.

So if you stick your head in the sand, they will bill you around 260chf per month from the day of your registed arrival. It is wise to find one yourself as the kanton won't likely pick the cheapest insurance.

You will also need travel insurance on top of this if you travel a lot. Sorry, the Swiss make sure you cannot avoid their system..

In addition, based on my past (sometimes failed) attempts to claim back money for illnes from from private travel insurances, I would trust the Swiss Krankenkasse explicitly for paying out. In the UK I was with Bupa (paying more than my current Krankenkasse) for a few years until I actually had to use it - they tried every excuse to worm out of full payment. Maybe I am one of the only fans of the swiss system ?

As far as I know, this will not happen until after you have been here for three months. However, after that time you will be billed for those previous three months in addition to future months with the randomly chosen company.

Sorry, I don't know what the restrictions are on substituting Swiss health insurance with travel insurance. It is certainly possible because there was something written about it in a welcome booklet for interenational students that I read. Hopefully other people on here can providce you with more details.

I think the basic rule is that the insurance you prospose have must satisfy at least the legal MINIMA definition. I don't think many travel insurance policies will do this.

dave

I actually tried getting out of it, with not just a travel insurance but a full insurance as an expat, and mine being much better than the Swiss. I tried proving that it satisfies all the points in the law, but kantons do not accept this, it is too complicated legally.

The absolutely only way you can get out of it is by having a European health insurance card, and you have to be a teacher or a student. Travel insurances as far as I know do not give out European health insurance cards...but check this perhaps.

I guess for a couple of months your travel insurance would be sufficient. Just as long as they would cover hospitalisations as well. I know from experience that they will cover medical costs only on an emergency basis.
Here everyone has to have a health insurance because with the expensive medical costs nobody would want to be caught with their pants down....but i don't know if there's a way for them to check if one has it or not.

Hi they do check as you'll get a reminder within a month in zurich.

I had been living here 5 yrs left on a c permit went to germany for 7 months (had German insurance) came back and got a reminder within weeks.

if u need tips on cheapest policies go to comparis.ch