Hi all,
I know that one can register for a health insurance scheme (pls see this for an official document stating this) within three months of arrival. It has been one and a half months since I arrived here. I was in the process of registering for a health insurance (specifically swiss-care), when I got a letter today from VSAO ASMAC stating that I'm registered with their insurance service. They've also sent me a payment slip. I find this outrageous. I did not opt for them. I was gathering information about swiss-care and was about to register with them. I do not want to register with VSAO ASMAC.

It'd be very helpful if the experienced forum members could suggest me on the options available to me. Can I just ignore the VSAO ASMAC's letter and proceed with registration with Swiss-Care? How do I go about cancelling my registration with VSAO ASMAC? My german is not good, so if I could email some office/authority to request a cancellation, it would be great.

Many thanks in advance.

I think there's been a misunderstanding somewhere; VSAO-ASMAC is a professional organization and a pension fund, not a health insurer.

Post the letter here if you like (blank out your name or whatever first) and I'll take a look at it.

VSAO do arrange "special offers" on health insurance for its members:
http://www.mediservice-vsao.ch/de/ve...krankenkassen/

You should also note that the exemption for foreign researchers which allows you to use Swisscare will most likely be abolished in the near future:
http://www.parlament.ch/afs/data/d/b...0_20130122.htm

Thanks for the help. It doesn't have a letter format, instead tabular information on different costs. Here is what it looks like (please let me know if you need more information on any particular section):

Versicherungsausweis per 01.05.2013
Situationsberechnung nach Ihrem Eintritt

Persoenliche Angaben:
Sozialversicherungs-Nr: XXX
Name, Vorname, Geburtsdatum, ...

Anschluss:
Arbeitgeber: XXX
Vorsorgeplan: XXX
Eintrittsdatum: 01.05.2013
Beschaeftigungsgrad: XX %
Ordentliches Ruecktrittsalter: XX

Nachstehende Angaben in Schweizer Franken/Rentenbetraege pro Jahr

Anrechenbarer Jahreslohn/ versicherter Jahreslohn/Koordinationsabzug:
Anrechenbarer AHV-Jahresbruttolohn: XXX
./. Koordinationsabzug: XXX
Versicherter Jahreslohn: XXX

[Some other sections on the page 1 and 2 mentioning different amount of money]

End of Page 2:

Weitere Informationen:
- Eintrittsleistung, siehe Stiftungsreglement Artikel 4.3
- Vorzeitiger oder aufgeschobener Altersruecktritt, siehe Stiftungsreglement Artikel 5.2.1
- [Other similar bullet points follow, total 9 of them]

Good news for you - this is a statement about the pension plan which you evidently have with them (this is most likely through your new employer). It's nothing to do with health insurance, so carry on as you were with Swisscare. Note as quark said that the Swisscare option may not be available to you in future, nothing wrong with saving a few (hundred) francs a year in the meantime though....

Question remains what they intend you to do with that orange payment slip you've said was enclosed. I don't know and there's nothing in the bit you've excerpted that tells me.

__________________
Need help? Contact a mod.

Thank you very much MathNut. It's a great relief. Almost all non-Swiss people at my office seem to have a Swiss-Care plan, so I'll go with it now.

I will ask someone at my office about the orange slip.

Note though, it is possible to be enrolled automatically to a health insurance, and be stuck with it till the end of the year.

If you don't buy health insurance at all, after a couple of months you get a letter from your town hall saying "you haven't found insurance, if you dont find one within x weeks, we'll find one for you and send you the bill"...

Three months, I believe. As mentioned in the OP.