Normally when you are employed, you get accident insurance from the employer.
For those of you not employed, who do you get your insurance from? How much does it cost you? Is there what are pros and cons between SUVA and AXA and would you recommend one over the other?
I would just go through your normal health insurance as will be much simpler to handle if something were to happen and it’s often super easy to activate and deactivate.
Exactly. We buy it for the kids together with health insurance. And it costs close to nothing.
Now you just made me think: are kids’ accidents normally covered by health insurance or parent’s work insurance? I don’t remember buying accident insurance for kids, but they for sure have been in hospital plenty of times already.
Kids have accident in normal health insurance.
Adults also typically if they don’t work.
Important - when accident insurance is with health insurance then the normal deductible and participation applies.
I think there is a basic cover included. I remember I selected an accident insurance option for like 8 CHF on top, but don’t recall what exactly that was for. Possibly one of these “the wallet sits loosely when it is for the children” moments.
There’s a very small additional monthly premium, something like just 5 chuffs or so extra, to include accident cover in my health insurance. Pretty sure that normal deductibles do not apply.
Been to Accident and Emergency a couple of times for minor things, a craft knife cut needed stitching, an infected cat bit, stuff like that, hospital bill was paid in full and prescriptions did not need to be paid for and claimed back, which certainly used to be a difference between the way the two systems worked.
But TBH nothing significant enough so’s I’d have noticed if some of it was charged back to me, so I’ll perhaps reduce it from “Pretty sure” to “I think”.
Normal deductibles definitely do apply if accident insurance cover is via the normal health insurance.
They don’t apply only for the accident insurance via employment. They do apply for the one via health insurance.
Ours is more expensive, about 35 CHF/month with Visana, was less with Groups Mutuel.
Ours is with our health insurance provider. I had it anyway since I don’t work and added it to husband’s when he retired. Costs about another 5 francs a month.
Ambulance cost reimbursement is higher when claimed via the accident insurance part rather than the health insurance part but otherwise the regular deductibles etc apply.
Accident cover via employer is better in that there is zero deductible but of course you can only have that if you are actually working.
Yes it is covered by their health insurance - for instance if they have a ski injury or other sports events. But sometimes the insurance doesn’t cover absolutely all the ulterior expenses e.g. with some medical materials but what you have to pay from your pocket is a relatively small amount.
I had an accident once and there was a delay in categorising it as health or accident. The hospital were pushing me to go with health but I refused because I would have had to contribute. It ended up as accident and was fully paid by the insurance.
Must have been your work accident insurance
I had a ski accident and I had to pay deductibles. And for some reason they didn’t cover transport costs at all (but the amount was quite small anyway because the hospital was not far from the gondola station).
How is the billing handled when you do have an accident. Are you asked on the spot to choose? Should I rather carry with me the details of my accident insurance together with my health insurance card?
I’m pretty sure my work accident insurance covers accidents at and outside of work place and time. It seems to be standard in Switzerland, but it’s not the case everywhere, I remember that previously my work accident insurance only covered accidents at work and on my way to and from work (which had to be the obvious direct way, making a detour for shopping etc automatically excluded it from the insurance cover).
Usually when you have an accident you just present your regular health insurance card.
The bills get sent to them and they then send a form requesting more information about your accident insurance etc since it was billed as an accident.
That’s how it worked for us in any case.
I do indeed carry around both cards - in any case you can also inform the hospital later if it’s a true emergency etc
Unlikely that you were only insured for professional accidents as if you work at least 8 hrs a week the employer accident insurance HAS to cover you also for private accidents. Employer can make you pay for it though. Were you working less than 8hrs/week?
“Si une personne travaille au moins 8 heures par semaine dans la même entreprise, elle est obligatoirement assurée contre les accidents professionnels et non professionnels”
“If a person works at least 8 hours a week in the same company, he or she is compulsorily insured against occupational and non-occupational accidents.”
Sorry sloppy writing, I meant to say it doesn’t work that way in every country. Before Switzerland I had a private accident insurance because the work one was limited to work related accidents.