I want to know about the system of hospitals and clinics in CH. Are there any government hospitals etc that offer subsidised treatments. I am trying to compare it with what we have in Ireland where there are free facilities to an extent.
I was wondering what kind of health insurance is sufficient normally for a family with a baby. Is the insurance costly and will i be paying for the treatment inspite of having an insurance policy ?
Thx
As for cost, you can go to www.comparis.ch to find the costs of premiums from the various companies under varying circumstances. You'll need to know a bit of German, French or Italian though.
It'll probably be quite pricey for a complete family but at least the actual services are first class.
Gav
If you live in Switzerland for any length of time ie you have a residence permit and are not simply on holiday you need to be insured for medical health treatment. If you are employed your employer must cover accidents however this can "only" be obligatory insurance and not private. Here you need to understand the difference between obligatory insurance - which you have to pay for and private which entitles you to things such as a twin or single room in a hospital, quicker treatment, a different menu in hospital(!), the head doctor and of course which you also need to pay for just more.
You also have different franchises which determine the amount of money you need to spend on health care before the insurance kicks in. Clearly the more you pay the cheaper the policy. For children this is irrelevant.
To give you an idea it is not unusual for a monthly adult to cost CHF 150 and a child half of this - the maths you can then do yourself.
BE WARNED:- Children need medical attention regularly or at least it seems to me that way, so do not go for the no frills cheapest of the cheap policy. As for recommendations whatever anyone tells you it seems very much to me to be a question of luck - I have Winterthur because it provides a discount for employees also of Credit Suisse.
Cheers
Richard
So basically someone with a six figure salary makes the same contributions to the health system as someone with no salary at all. Very low income earners are given a rebate at the end of the year which could equate to about half of their insurance payments, but they still have to stump up the money in advance.
This contrasts sharply to other countries where the amount you pay into the health system depends on your income - poor pay less, rich pay more.
Just another small point - unemployed and self-employed people have to have their own accident insurance as was already pointed out, but the franchise (excess) will be the same as their sickness insurance.
In my case I had a 1500 franc franchise and had an accident in December. I had 3000 francs of expenses split over Dec/Jan. This meant I didn't get a single rappen from the insurance company which made me very angry.
So those of you who have your employer's accident insurance certainly have an easier time in the case of accidents.
A couple of other points:
1. Reimbursement of medical expenses is not always 100% as many seem to think. You get 90% back until you have paid something like 800-1000 francs out of your own pocket (over and above the franchise), and only after that will you get 100% back.
2. Usually, if your treatment is outside of a hospital (and many times also inside a hospital) you will be expected to show that you have paid, and a few months after paying you'll get the money back. Fine if you can afford to pay up front, but not fine if you are struggling to make ends meet and you suddenly have to find 10 or 20k to pay medical bills while you wait a few months to get the money back... Again - a serious and unfair disadvantage for the non-well-off.
You would want to make sure your whole family is covered by accident insurance. It's an easy add-on to your sickness insurance - and doens't cost that much extra. If for example you slipped over this would not be covered as a sickness - it would be an accident. Much time is often spent in this country discussing whether something is an accident or a sickness and which insurance should pay.
Thanks
You can get your permit without it, but the local government office ( Gemeinde or Kreisbüro ) needs a copy of your policy when you get it.
It doesn't matter for your apartment hunting.
To get prices, check our www.comparis.ch . This is commercial, but still has good info.
You may get a contribution towards the cost from your employer (Credit Suisse 30 or UBS 50 etc).
FYI, we both have excesses of CHF 2500 to keep costs down
And just search this site for "health insurance" to see other posts.
Edit:
An insurance company cannot reject your application for basic insurance - they must accept you.
They can insist on a questionaire for any supplementary insurances.
You don't need accident cover if you work more than 8 hours per week - the employer takes care of that.
- At INTRAS you will find simply and clearly structured insurance products that satisfy all your major needs and are very attractively priced. You also benefit from numerous free services such as telemedicine, second opinions, emergency assistance, etc. With INTRAS rest assured that your premiums won't skyrocket when you become older. You can rely on our certified top quality services to be both quick and professional
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Helsena were very helpful, spoke in English too. Good luck, PM me if you need any more info...other advice would be not to have dental care, they wanted to take scans of my teeth! arrrgh even though my dental record in the UK is amazing.
Like , there is a search facility on this site
I have just moved from the UK (Edinburgh) three weeks ago. I am trying to find a health insurance company but confused with so manny arounds. I have a little daugher (15 months old) so I want a health insurance company which give me option to go to any doctor/hospital any time and deals with claims easily and quickly. Any help would be much appreciated.
Regards
Haider
Regarding paying large medical bills.
I have just done a little stint in the Unispital and that bill was sent direct to Sanitas they in turn will bill me for my 10%, Just as well because I cant afford to wait 2 months for 12 grand to be repaid. Im not sure how the system works but when ever I have had a large Hospital bill its always sent direct to the insurance company.
DC