If she is coming here to live with you presumably she will be getting a permit on the basis of family reunification in which case you will have to show that you can support the two if you and that includes paying for her health insurance premiums.
If she starts working here and works more than 8 hours per week, her employer will cover in full her work-related accident insurance premiums and possibly part of her non work-related accident insurance premium. Accident insurance is then covered by her (employer's) accident insurance company, mostly SUVA or AXA.
As long as she's unemployed though, your/her health insurance will have to cover her in case of an accident and therefore it's very important that you notify them ASAP and tell them that/when your wife'll be joining you.
I heard that health insurance is going to cost her 800 chf per month? Can that be even if she does not work. Sure I fund her for health insurance but that seems expensive or perhaps the person that told me was not sure....any advice is appreciated
If she's generally fit and healthy and doesn't visit the doctor often or have a chronic condition requiring expensive medication it's probably better to choose a higher deductible and pay lower premiums.
Also, contact your health insurance company and ask them, I'm sure they'll be glad to help you and possibly give you exact numbers.
In Switzerland, for basic insurance people who
- are with the same insurance company
- within the same age bracket
- have the same deductible
- have the same insurance model (HMO, basic, etc.)
- live in the same location
- are of the same sex
have identical premiums for basic insurance, as basic health insurance is based on a social model rather than a risk model. Meaning that everyone living in CH is covered and that people who fulfill the criteria above pay the same premiums no matter if they are healthy or deathly ill with cancer/MS/asthma etc.
Whereas in the risk model (basis of the supplementary health insurances) their covering you will depend on your state of health and you won't necessarily pay the same premium as someone with different illnesses living in your location/as old as you/of the same sex etc.
Hope that helps. For further info here is the glossary which explains all general questions you might have regarding Swiss health insurance.
Thank you very much for all you responses. Fantastic forum :-)
Have a word with your insurance company, it's possible they have a spousal reduction scheme. It'll be small but every bit helps.
Tom
That's not "basic" insurance Tom and you know it ! $
Basic means the minimum legal requirement with highest franchise (CHf 2'500.--)
I even just verified it on comparis.ch (well, they say 555/month, so maybe the 549 is wrong )
Tom
One thing that I find a big 'gap' is mental health services...though... but I was told that even those things are not well-covered by any 'extras'...
I changed my franchise to a lower one last year as I had a few extra health issues that needed to be addressed and I didn't want to have to pay out-of-pocket quite so much - it's quite nice when your bill comes back as a minor payment or as a 'zero' owing... I think it worked out as around 40chf extra per month to drop the franchise ('gap') down to 250chf for the year... which worked out for us.
You may also want to consider dental. We budget a few hundred per year for regular dental cleaning (once a year or once every two years) and any 'extra's'. We pay directly rather than taking on the dental cover from the health insurance, but in hindsight I have realised that good dental care is actually a big priority for me (a personal thing) and so maybe we should have 'opted in' at the beginning...
You can have supplementary insurance outside Switzerland.
Tom, if you really are paying 555 per month, Chf 6'660.-- you're doing something wrong !
Tom
Basic coverage (meaning only KVG and not VVG coverage) includes the same benefits irrespective of the franchise and therefore the premium. So you can have basic insurance while paying a e.g. CHF 2500.- franchise (and lower premiums) or a CHF 300.- franchise (and higher premiums) while receiving identical benefits.
Whereas standard basic insurance (an insurance model ) includes the most possibilities regarding choosing doctors etc. for the insured within the limits of basic insurance under KVG (as opposed to HMO, Telmed etc. models). Choosing a different model from standard basic brings some reductions in premium, as seen in the glossary, but it requires you to e.g. always consult your GP first.