I am in my twenties. Would it be advisable for me to go for Long Term Health Insurance Coverage?

I'm renewing this unanswered thread .. has anyone purchased long-term care insurance? The costs for an old-folks home here will cost 6K+ per month and that's only basic costs.. the sky's the limit. This will rapidly wipe out anyone financially. Has anyone bought a policy, and if yes, what are the monthly payments like?

Out of curiosity, I took a quick peek at Helsana's 'Cura' Pflegeheim Versicherung - the first google result.

According to their calculator, with a Tagesgeldpauschal of CHF 60 and a waiting period of 720 days, the monthly premium for a woman my age would be CHF 34, a man CHF 23. Premiums seem to rise a bit with age.

The insurance has to be taken out before age 70.

That's quite reasonable. I wonder if I am missing something? I also wonder if there are any health/pre-existing condition qualifications.
From the Beobachter article linked two posts below, looks like no health qualification.

Apparently the Tagesgeldpauschal choices can range from CHF 10-300, the waiting period is also variable. The quick calculator on their site only gives the 60/720 option, though, so while I would guess premiums rise with a more generous Tagesgeld and shorter waiting period I don't know how steeply.

This is just one example, pulled off google.

I would guess the key question is how much you need. The Grundversicherung/public contribution does not pay for the Hotelerie portion of nursing home care. Is CHF 60/day enough? CHF 300/day?

I suppose the thing to do is to contact some of the nursing homes, both public and high end private, to find out how their estimated 6K plus per month costs break out between Pflege (covered by the basic insurance, public contribution, and IIRC some level of self pay) and the Hotelerie and Betreuung (covered by the resident alone.)

Another thing to look into is whether any of these plans will cover or contribute to in-home care or in-home assistance.

It's a jungle out there, I tells ya.

ETA:

I would expect most private Pflegeheim have a financing advisor, public homes might as well. That person would be a good contact to ask about experiences with the various insurance packages out there.

Another thought:

This is from Pro Senectute Fribourg, so canton specific - but since it gives one of the better explanations I've seen of finance issues around moving to an Altersheim or Pflegeheim I decided to link it:
http://www.fr.prosenectute.ch/kurze-...heimen-69.html

The article mentions that you can set up an appointment with a Sozialberater to discuss all sorts of age-related issues, including financial plans. For Pro Senectute Zürich, see:

https://pszh.ch/fuer-organisationen/...ozialberatung/

(Pro Senectute is active in all cantons; they are a valuable resource. If you are not in ZH, just search for the group in your canton.)

Reading a Beobachter article from 2015, it seems one thing I was missing is that the Wartungsfrist is not from when you take out the policy, but rather from entering care; you have to pay 720 days of Pflegeheim care yourself first, before the policy payments kick in.

https://www.beobachter.ch/geld/krank...-diesen-schutz


As with everything, in Switzerland and in life in general a careful reading of the policy/contract is in order.

720 days is probably no small amount!

No kidding, especially when the average stay is only 840 days (28 months) before you kick the bucket according to this source https://www.mylifesite.net/blog/post...-for-how-long/

With a premium of just 23 chf for a man a month what are you expecting ?