Health Insurance FAQs

Finance, Taxes, Banking, Insurance and Retirement
81
I just PM'ed Jenny, but I thought I'd generally ask about proving you have other insurance. I moved to Switzerland at the end of October and have insurance still (from the U.S. that goes through December), so I don't want to pay for new insurance until it runs out. What do I need to do to prove that I have other insurance?

82
Go to your "gemeinde" and ask them. When I arrived I wrote a letter to them explaining that I had one if this would be acceptable, in the end it was not, but they gave me more time to find the swiss one. So you can write a letter to them with all information about your health insuranse and what it covers.

83
We were in the same situation as you when we arrived in 2007. We had international insurance paid through till the end of the year (we arrived here in April). Initially we wanted to keep the international insurance and we were given a form by the commune to have the US insurance company outline everything that was included in our insurance package.

The US insurance company would not complete the form and would only issue a standard letter outlining our benefits. This was not acceptable for the Swiss and they informed us we had to get local insurance. However, they allowed us to finish the duration of the international insurance we had already paid for. So we had until the end of the year to buy local insurance (about 8 months).

I am not sure exactly what, other than the letter mentioned above, the Swiss needed in order to prove coverage. My husband's employer dealt with the authorities on this issue. However, we were definitely given approval to wait until the international insurance policy expired before having to purchase local insurance.

In hindsight, the local insurance here is way, way better than anything you can buy overseas. The basic insurance has no pre-existing condition waiting periods and the local medical establishments know how to deal with local insurance companies. When we tried to make claims on our international insurance it was a nightmare trying to get the Swiss doctors and hospitals to issue the right kind of documentation that would be acceptable to our US insurance company. It was a relief to not have to deal with that any more.

Good luck.

84
Merry Christmas !

We have similar to Forumfriend case.

We currently insured (compulsory) by Aquilana but want to go ahead with EGK. We sent registered termination letter to Aquilana 23 November 09, but in December we received back a notice from them, that termination would not take effect unless they have timely received a confirmation from our new insurer. We did not contact EGK in time and Aquilana already sent us January 2010 invoice, the same EGK will do soon.

Seems now we have new insurance with EGK (already signed and effective from 01.01.2010) and previous Aquilana insurance, which seems was not terminated correctly.

Could give us any ideas please, how we can terminate one of two insurances now and avoid paying twice for nothing?

Thanks,

VVGr

85
Your new insurer should automatically send confirmation to your old one that they now have the risk. The letter you have received is probably just a confirmation that you have cancelled.

86
Could it be that Aquilana has sent us invoice for January 2010 by mistake then?

87
The invoices are prepared some time in advance. You could check with them that they have received the confirmation from your new insurer.

88
Thank you, we will check this of course, when they are back from holidays.

89
This is a bit of a long shot....

I appear to have misplaced the pre-addressed envelopes that came with our letters from the Einwohnerkontrolle requesting we send the Krankenkassenpolice a copy of our Health Insurance policies. My other half is somewhat miffed that I 'couldn't keep tabs on 2 simple envelopes' during our housemove.

So firstly, does anyone know whether I have to send my letters to one 'universal' Krankenkassenpolice office of Switzerland or whether I have to send them to a 'Thalwil specific' office instead?

Secondly, with an answer to the above question in mind, can anyone give me the address?

Eurgh, why am I such an airhead?

Thanks so much!

Laurie x

90
I'm not in your area, but all I had to do was take a copy of each policy into our commune (gemeinde), where they just said 'thank you' and then did whatever administrative thing they need to do with health insurance proof. Perhaps you could try that first; at the very least, they'll have the address and possibly even copies of the envelopes.

kodokan

91

Thanks so much Kodokan! I took them into the Gemeinde today and they just smiled, took a copy and sent me on my way

Don't know why i'd gotten myself into such a flap!

Thanks again,

Laurie

92
You're welcome, glad it was so easy to sort out.

Oh, probably hanging around on here too much, reading fearfully about the penchant for bureaucracy.

kodokan

93

You've probably just hit the nail square on the head there

94
Hi all,

Given that Comparis only covers companies who have paid for advertising, is there a website which lists ALL health insurance companies?

95
With the TELMED insurance do you need to have a GP that you are registered to go to after you have called and they confirm you can see a doctor?

96
Attached is a list of all the insurance companies in Switzerland and where they operate.

There are no premiums.

The document with the premiums for all cantons and all age groups is over 1100 pages long...

97
No, as a general rule, once you've hung up you can go and see whoever you like. They may tell you to visit your GP but you have total free choice of who that is and you don't have to register with a GP or even register the GP with the insurance company.

The only case where you'd have to name a GP is if you choose the GP method.

(GP method = primary care physician = gateway doctor etc., I know some people refer to it differently!)

98
But will they suggest a GP to visit? Since I don't know any

99
Most companies won't impose somebody but you could always ask them to recommend someone, I'm sure they'd be happy to do so.

Alternatively, you could try :

http://www.doctorswiss.ch/

You can put your postcode in and the type of doctor you're looking for and the site will generate a list for you.

e.g. If you live in postcode area 8005 and you're looking for a GP ("general medicine" in the list) you'll get this list :

http://www.doctorswiss.ch/en/doctors...21/page_1.html

You could also try www.search.ch

100
I think that you have to have chosen (even randomly) your GP in your insurance application.

Did you complete the application form on your own or with somebody else's help? In any case, your insurance provider should know who your GP is. Just call them.