Sigh.
Interesting. I took out a Cigna International policy before our move to Zurich. The Cigna policy provides coverage worldwide including the US (up to 90 days stay in the States). We mailed in the 48 page document outlining the policy coverage to the local for review. Our policy rejection letter came yesterday. The Cigna policy far exceeds the coverage of the basic Swiss policies I'm researching today, but it looks like we'll end up with both.
It's a whole lot easier to send money to a US account than have the US account send it to you. in fact it's there the next day. Going the other way.....much more painful, at least with Bank of America.
Your situation is exactly what my husband and I feared most: Cigna used a high pressured sales pitch (on me at least) to get us to commit and said obtaining the exemption was a "no brainer" and easy to obtain but from what I have read, obtaining an exemption is subjective and depends upon the canton in question (notwithstanding the person in the Gemeinde processing the exemption). What I find interesting is that other reputable worldwide insurance carriers like Aetna International will not even give a quote for private worldwide health insurance to those "expats" living in Switzerland. I imagine that Aetna has experienced issues with clients who have purchased its cover for insurance and which later, the Gemeinde has rejected.
What is lousy for you is that now you will have to pay for basic insurance from a Swiss recognised company and yet you already have that coverage through Cigna. Ugh on all levels! In my view, Cigna needs to be more transparent; they cannot sell their product in a country and state that exemptions are easy to obtain when that is clearly not the case. This is why I wrote my email initially -namely to caution others from paying for a product which may not be recognised in Switzerland.
We ended up going with Sanitas for our basic insurance (they have a policy in english) and so far so good. I also took out an annual medical travel insurance policy with Allianz to cover us when we travel abroad (as we do so often). I wish you all the best with your Swiss medical research
MegsB all you can do is cancel the Cigna policy as soon as you’re allowed to. Swiss health insurance will cover you well here and when travelling in the EU if you have an emergency and as terrifisch says getting an medical travel insurance policy if you go outside of the EU will be way cheaper is my guess.
My plan is to get the highest deductible, lowest cost swiss plan that covers me in an emergency. I'll keep the Cigna as we travel constantly and get our yearly and routine health care and tests back in the States when we're visiting family.
Lessons learned, though, eh?
Sorry, meant to say finding a Swiss plan that covers the absolute basic requirements since Cigna still covers me in Switzerland.
All the basic ones cover exactly the same, which is pretty much anything......
Well, Cigna obviously won’t if it’s not accepted by the canton. As fatmanfilms said basic insurance covers anything you may need and it’s really just a question of whether you want to go with the traditional, TelMed, HMO or something else. Have a look at comparis.ch and see what you’d prefer.
Yes, Cigna does cover me in Switzerland and worldwide. I was just trying to avoid duplicating services (ie, Cigna coverage as well as the required coverage accepted by the Canton). On the upside, Cigna allows you to cancel with 7 days written notice with prorated refund. So, there's that!