I am an EU passport holder starting a 1 year postdoc at UNIL in September. I am looking to get the cheapest health insurance available (I already have my own health insurance where I live in Canada).
I have looked through many of the threads and forums and have found some options but the cheapest I seem to be getting is CHF$261 per month from Concordia.
I see that some people are saying the post docs are eligible for student type insurance but I attempted this through Swiss Care and apparently this is not available for those working in the Canton of Vaud.
So I am hoping to see if anyone else has any further suggestions for cheaper insurance? Also would you recommend I sign up for this mandatory insurance immediately after my arrival? Or can I wait the 3 months so I don't have to pay for the full year...
Yes, I know I sound very cheap, but I am aware of the fact that there are many expenses involved with living in Switzerland and I want to make sure I don't go broke living there.
Health insurance is mandatory and there is no longer any cheaper option for post-docs in Vaud. You have to sign up within three months, and the payment is backdated from the day you first landed (which also means that the coverage is backdates - so if you have an emergency during your first week, before you have any coverage, just keep all the receipts, and they will cover it, or at least it will become part of your franchise).
The postdoc organization at EPFL have negotiated some kind of health insurance deal which includes the basic coverage and some complimentary coverage - however bizarrely they refuse to email me written info about it, asking me to come to their office. I guess I will visit once I'm there and find out - you should see if UNIL have any "deals" as well. Otherwise, there's always comparis.ch for comparing different options.
I am not sure if it is an option for you, but in theory you could live in a neighbouring canton of Vaud, then you could maybe apply to swiss care from there.
Anyhow, I had swiss care for the last 5 years and while it is really cheap (although), it is also quite a hassle to get refunded. This starts with them changing the way how you have to apply for refunding (from e-mails, to mails to online system and back). Furthermore they have to refund you up to 2 years after the date of the bill, but twice they first refused to refund me a bill which was 14 month. I had to phone them several times and send them several e-mails to get refunded, although they are legally obliged to do it.
That said, you might be better of with not having swiss care. That is at least my personal experience.
Can you please tell me if you were ever able to find out more info about this? My husband accepted a postdoc position in Lausanne and we're moving this summer. Anything you have to offer would be much appreciated, either reply or PM me, whichever you prefer (although some might like to have the info public). Thanks!
Hi Jessica, welcome to Lausanne. Feel free to ask me questions about coming to Lausanne - we're still here and enjoying it
For the insurance, I did finally get the information and end up going with them. It's a package that includes the basic legally required insurance, as well as some extras, which include global travel insurance, dental (1500 CHF per year, but you pay the first 500), some small amount for glasses, etc. You choose your deductible, in Switzerland it's common to choose quite high deductibles. For me and my wife, we both chose the maximum, 2500 CHF.
Given this, I pay 267 per month, and my wife 291 (EPFL pays my accident insurance). For our son, who is 2 years old, we chose 0 deductible (didn't ever want to worry about paying if there was something wrong with him), and he costs 113. (Kids are cheaper).
You can also apply for a cantonal subsidy on your insurance. It took about half a year for them to process it, but with one post-doc income, and a child, we qualified for about 105 CHF per month in reduction. I think without a child, you probably wouldn't qualify.
You could probably sign up for the deal we have without going through the university, but I think we get about 20 CHF discount per family member, so it's still something. And Assura seems to be the cheapest provider anyway.