Maybe a daft question. But if I go to a pharmacy and buy asprin or something, should I use/show my insurance card? So that the value comes off my franchise.
Or maybe asprin is a bad example, I got propranalol from my UK doctor and found that pharmacies here will give (sell) it to me as long as i show them an empty box with a UK pharmacy label on it.. It's rated Swissmedic B. Should I use my insurance card for that?

** I've never seen a doctor in CH so never used the insurance

Only for prescribed medication.

Tom

They just give out beta blockers upon production of a box? Interesting.

I very much doubt it would count towards your franchise, they only cover prescribed meds and even then, not all of them. OTC drugs that you decide you need are basically not the health insurance's problem and rightly so.

Yes indeed. First time I went it was no questions asked, I showed them the box from the UK and they gave me the drugs. Second time I took the empty box from here, with no labels on it that they had given me and they said no - I need a prescription. That's when it clicked that they accept the UK pharmacy sticker as some kind of proof that I had a prescription at some point. So now I keep the empty UK box and take it with me.

Believe a Swissmedic class B means it's suitable for repeat supplies or something - maybe that's the reason, class A needs a new prescription each time.

Never seen a pharmacy in Switzerland give out prescribed meds without a script . Only if they have the old prescription on their computer. Then it's only for a certain time period (such as 6mo , 1 year). Sounds shady they had out meds with only a box in hand....

In regards to the franchise. You much 1st pay off your deductible (mine is 500CH because of a new organ in my body but many I know have a 2,500CHF deductible). Then, the insurance pays all but 10%. The pharmacy will tell you the prescribed meds are paid by the insurance or not.

They are legally allowed to do so for certain types of medicines, at the pharmacist's discretion.

Tom

John, your experience might be an exception - or rather, some pharmacies and/or pharmacists might be more flexible or willing to use their discretion than others.

At my local Apotheke, no current Rx means no drugs. If it is an emergency where you cannot get to the doctor and urgently need the drug the pharmacist might be willing to give you a few day's supply to tide you over until you can see the doc, or (if from a Swiss doctor), call the doctor for an OK to dispense. But if it isn't an emergency, no dice - the pharmacist insists on a current Rx.

We all know that what happens in one corner of Switzerland might be very different from another - but folks reading this should understand that one can't always count on getting a refill without the prescription, and plan accordingly.

For the franchise, yeah i did think it would be this way, prescribed/approved meds only. I just thought it could be a nice way to lower my franchise a little at a time in case one day my head falls off or something and i need to pay it in one go

The no prescription thing, it's not even a fluke, I've been to a few pharmacies in cantons geneva and vaud and one over the border in france, no arguments or pleading, couple of times the assistant has double checked with the boss or looked up something on the computer but as long as they see the label on the box they seem to be ok. 10-15 chf for the medicine vs the cost of a doctors appointment.

Swissmedic B drugs are prescription, allow refils. If you have a label on your box, i guess it would be considered a script by some pharmacies, certainly not all. It's rather sloppy work. Of course the high value drugs (pain meds, ritalin, etc) are all A, i guess they figure no one will try to resell or score most of the B drugs.


And if you sent in the bill to your Swiss insurance, it might be covered, so would count against your franchise. Try it and see.