Hello everyone!
I am trying to get an idea of what I should expect to pay for health care for four people (two adults, two children - 13 and 9) in Switzerland. Comparish.ch is great at providing estimates for basic insurance, but not so clear on supplemental insurance.

I would want to include things such as private/semi-private ward in hospital and perhaps orthodontic care for the kids. I would also want a low deductible. Do any of you have similar insurances in place and can give me an idea of cost? I am hoping to keep it at/under CHF 1600/month. Is that even possible?

Thanks for your help!

Hi,

I am looking into it also and found for myself it would start at SFr. 170.00 a month, which is alot cheaper then the $ 500.00 a month here in California.

I have a policy with Vivacare for 2 adults, all the whistles and bells included at approx 550chf per month

The reason that the supplemental insurance is difficult to compare is that the offerings vary widely from company to company. If you're struggling to find what you want on comparis.ch, you might try speaking to an English-speaking insurance advisor -- there's one on this forum, although her name escapes me at the moment.

You should also do your sums carefully to work out what the break-even is on the deductible. If you're young and in good health, it's usually much cheaper to take the highest deductible you can find, paying for the odd trip to the doctor yourself, and having the insurance as a fall-back in case something really serious happens. The difference between the cheapest deductible and the highest can be more than CHF100 per month -- unless you're certain that you're going to need more than CHF1200 of medical treatment per year, you're better off taking the higher deductible and paying for the treatment out-of-pocket. Over the long run, you're likely to be much better off -- particularly if there are four of you (as it's unlikely you'll EACH need CHF1200 of medical treatment).

I'm not sure where you'll be living or what your language abilities are, but many of us who live near France or Germany cross the border for our medical / dental treatment. For example, seeing a conventionné doctor (a doctor who works within the French Social Security system) in France costs €22 for a consultation with a general practitioner and €25 for a consultation with a specialist. Much cheaper than seeing someone on the Swiss side of the border, especially for those of us who bear the majority of our medical costs personally.

Jenny

http://www.englishforum.ch/members/610-jenny.html

Thanks everyone! I have already contacted Jenny, who very graciously has agreed to meet with us upon our arrival.

I was trying to do some calculations online to understand what our costs will be once we are there. But coming from Canada, where health care insurance is not a concern, I may be making a bigger deal out of this than I should be.

The information about France is particularly relevant for us, as is the comment about the size of the deductible.

Thanks all for your time. I definitely feel less worried about this now!