I need to read upon the details but i believe it covers both. It's a extended travel insurance that is a part o my home insurance. It would cost me less than 1000CHF per year. Is it complicated to get an exemption from the Swiss one and it is not very common to have your "own" insurance before arriving?
If it's travel insurance you need to read the conditions very carefully because travel insurance may not cover you if you are a tax-paying resident in another country.
Sometimes students on a posting to Switzerland get an exemption (I've seen threads on here covering this very subject) but if you're coming here to take up a job offer and it's just to skimp on the cost, it's unlikely.
You can shop around and get a decent deal where you can include the highest excess to keep the monthly policy cost down.
Travel insurance very often excludes trips longer than 3 months anyway or at least has a limit of coverage. And as ShirleyNot said, I doubt they cover when you are resident.
Years ago I once knew someone who was a retired military veteran (not sure, though, from which country) and part of his retirement was worldwide medical coverage for life. He retired to Switzerland and did succeed in getting an exemption from the Swiss obligatory insurance, but it took him about a year of paperwork to achieve. As far as I can recall, he had to prove for many aspects of both illness and accident, both emergency and regular cover, that his insurance from abroad was at least equal to the Swiss cover.
But then, when he had a claim, his paperwork started up all over again. He had to pay all the bills in Switzerland up front, cash. Next, he had to get the Swiss documents translated to submit them to his to his insurance in his country of origin for reimbursement. It ended up being an ongoing, uphill battle for the rest of his life.
Not very "worldwide" if you have to translate the papers. In my understanding proper insurance would have sub-contractors, which can then evaluate the documents and process the claims in various languages.
Nevertheless I agree, it is major pain in the ass every single time to explain health insurance situation. I had to pay for covid test upfront, then insurance denied the claim and told me if federation is providing this free, go get refund from them. Yeah, right
I tried this when I came to Switzerland as my Dutch health insurance offered worldwide cover for much less than we pay here (back then approx. EUR 120/month including dental care). However, it was declined by the Swiss authorities stating the only groups that could get exempted from Swiss compulsory health insurance are students, professors, temporary workers, etc.
Another exception is the international organisations in Geneva. The ILO, for example, self-insures all their employees. They had at least three full time employees processing claims.
yup. but even for them I believe its a pain as you have to explain to the hospital/doctor/whatever the insurance policy. probably not a big issue in Geneva as all the hospitals there will have their systems set up for these cases. but elsewhere in Switzerland....