thanks! so is it a common practice in Switzerland then?

and also, so do they pay it on top of your salary every month or do you get it at the end of the year?

In the UK its known as a benefit in kind.
I'm not sure if its common in switzerland, its all depends on what the "benefit" is.

i was getting extra cash for living expenses but that was untaxed, but i'm guessing as its health insurance and thats mandatory the canton want to leach as much money as they can.

whether or not it happens monthly or yearly is probably down to what policies your company have in place. might be worth asking them. Might also depend on who does the physical payment for the insurance. I.e they put money in your account and you pay for it, or they just pay for a insurer through a company contract, and just deduct the tax payment in your payslip every month or every year.

Its not normal practice for your company to pay your health insurance generally so count yourself lucky that you get it! i'm well jealous

Hi all, I have a quick question. My fiancé and I just moved to Switzerland, and I've understood that we need to have health insurance starting from our arrival. In our case our flight here was on the 31st of July - does this really mean we need to backdate our insurance to start on July 1st? When we registered at the Personenmeldeamt I wrote that I'd be living here from August 1st (I honestly wasn't trying to be clever - I didn't know about this thing with the insurance at the time) and she wrote July 31st. Does this mean I can be insured starting in August and hers can start in July? At the moment every penny counts for us at the moment, which is why I'm asking.

We arrived on July 2nd, and our insurance started August 1. Not sure if that was a mistake by the insurance company, but that is what we got.

I arrived on 21st October and I took a lot of time investigating insurance models, since it was a system totally new for me. When I finally decided to sign up for one, they asked me "when did you arrive?" "when do you want your policy to start?" Since it was almost the end of november I said "1st December" and they invoiced me from 1st December.

Afterwards I have learnt that you are supposed to be insured since the day you arrived, paying retroactively... but well, they never made me do that. And it was the insurance company who asked when I wanted my policy to start! So... much less for a day I seriously doubt you have to pay the whole august. Or they invoice for a single day or probably you can start your policy on 1st August.

Hi,

My colleague was paying from the day he made the contract with the insurance company and they never asked him to pay from the day when he arrived.

My insurance agent told me that I have to pay at least from the date which is in my work permit, since the City Hall ( Stadt ) can check if you have a valid insruance or not, if you dont do any insurance within 3 month,the City hall where you made your work permit will issue one insuance for you and send you the bill.



Kind Regards,

Kito

I arrived July 27, and the insurance company I signed with had said that they would start my policy August 1... but then they backdated it to July 1.

Thanks for your comments. We decided to get our insurance from Aug 1st.

Is the deductible (300 or whatever you choose) applicable for all medical help? Also for GP of family doctor visit?

Basically, do I pay if I have a generic cold and need advice from a GP? If so, what rate do these guys charge? Approximate is good enough

Yes, you pay for that. And also for any prescriptions he'll give you. But all that counts for that deductible (both the consultation and the meds)

I do not know if all the prices for a GP are the same within the canton, but I think they should be similar. I recall that my GP costs me around 85 CHF per visit.

So as you see, 300 CHF is quite a low deductible. But if you do not go often to the doctor or you use only GP, maybe it is better to get a 2,500 CHF and get a much lower premium... probably every month you do not go to the doctor you save at least for two visits, so in general it is worth it, I think.

Here in Aaragu also costs around 50-100CHF per visit, depending what they do.
What was new for me that they did blood test for a normal flu and charged separately 30-50CHF, i think its quiet common that they do everything that they can to have the best for your health and after that the bill can be surprising, so better to consult with the nurse or the Dr.

Good afternoon all. I have a question that I think belongs here regarding basic insurance.

Should one have an operation in a hospital outside the Kanton of Residence what are the implications for coverage? For example, having an operation (non emergency) in Universitaetspital Basel, when living in Basel-Land.

My provider has previously stated that I am 'covered however the difference in cost for the same operation treatment in the Kanton of residence has to be paid for.' This looks to be in-line with what's written in the KVG.

It depends. You could be responsible for the difference in cost between BL and BS. But, if that surgery, despite being non emergent, is only available outside BL, you could be covered completely.

Thanks for your reply Edot,

but this can also imply that you could be responsible for the entire cost, regardless of any price difference between cantons?

No, i don't think so....but of course this would have to be surgery covered under insurance. But best to check with your insurer.

Health insurance/changing cantons:

I received at the end of the year the price for next year which was just 10chf higher than last year. On December 1st i moved and at the end of January they send the recalculated premium price. Before it 200 and now its 300.
Can it be such a big price difference between Luzern and Zurich?
Can i change my insurance now since the premium is much higher than what they calculated in October?
Thank you

Unfortunately not, you can only cancel your basic insurance for the end of a calendar year by giving them at least one months' notice.

Moving cantons doesn't allow you to change companies - even if there's been a change in premiums.

The premiums for the basic insurance have to be approved by the OFSP in Berne so it's not only the insurance companies who fix them.

The premiums change from canton to canton (and sometimes within the same canton) and are more expensive in Zürich than in Lucerne, yes.

There's nothing you can do until the end of the year I'm afraid

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Inswift Sàrl

I have a question about supplementary insurance,

If you have your supplementary insurance and basic insurance with different companies, how on earth does the billing work? I would assume bits would be paid by compulsory bit by supplementary.... This would be a nightmare??

Also what about the franchise? Would you have a franchise for each company?

It depends what the bill is for as to who will reimburse it.
e.g. a GP will be basic insurance ; an osteopath would be supplementary (if you have that as part of your cover)

There are occasional situations where a bill would be partly covered by both insurances (e.g. ambulances). In this case, you would have to ask for 2 official bills and send one to each company.

If you're unsure who covers a bill you might receive, the rule is to send it to where you have your basic insurance first. If it's not reimbursed and they return it to you, send it to where you have your supplementary.

The franchise (deductible/excess) only applies to the basic insurance.
There are some companies who apply a separate franchise to some parts of their supplementary but not all do.
The basic and supplementary insurances are treated completely separately.

Hope this answers your questions?!

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Inswift Sàrl

Hi all and sorry if I missed this. I have been on comapris for health insurance which is great but none of the insurers offer their correspondence in English - can anyone advise if they know one that does offer their documentation in English? Contacted Atupri but they sent me my offer but in German and said its German,French or Italian.