To be clear, my comments related to availability of treatments in connection to colon cancer:
- Stivarga is not available for colon cancer, „only“ liver
- Lonsurf is indeed now available
Sometimes one has to go behind the industry headlines to see whether something is easily available, not just approved in some few cases
Been trying to get quotes for Basic and Supplemental cover.
No of the companies I've asked on comparis.ch, have asked about pre-existing conditions, and we seem to have cover for the both of us for just less than 1000CHF/year with the options and excess (deductibles) we've chosen.
Apart from the deductible when we start getting treatment, will we have to pay for anything else ?
Seems very strange that they don't charge extra for pre-existing conditions ??
For pre-existing conditions, the basic cover will cover these. For the supplemental insurance, you may get refused (instead of having to pay more as happens in other countries). You will be asked for the existing conditions if you apply for supplemental insurance.
So that means I'll have to pay for all treatment other than whats covered on basic ?
if her drugs are on the (basic) specialities list, I presume I don't need to pay for them (its like £30k for the drugs in the UK) ?
Her website is
For basic, you cannot be refused for any pre existing condition.
In Switzerland, basic insurance premiums are based on
Gender (women pay slightly more)
Age (once you are 26, you pay the same as a 90 year old, kids pay less)
Postcode (Kantons set their own rates, and cities tend to be more expensive).
Then of course there is the model - classic, gp, hmo, telemedicine and the franchise (300 to 2500).
Once you get into the application process for supplemental, they will ask you, and unless your employer has some sort of contract or special deal with an insurer, odds are that your wife will be refused supplemental. But between Jenny and your own benefits people, I hope you‘ll be able to sort it out.
Honestly, i‘ve not missed supplemental in my 11.5 years here.
What you pay for. I have a 300 chf deductible. After that I pay 10% of the next chf 7000 of covered expenses, so a total of 1000 out of pocket, plus insurance. I‘ve looked at last year‘s insurance, and i think less than 100 chf were not covered.
Hope that helps, and good luck!
It‘s a tough call when you‘re in treatment - especially if you like your docs and the treatment is ongoing with support, etc. But it‘s also tough to be separated....especially . No right answer.
Your wife‘s drugs are standard and should be covered under basic.
You will just have to lay for the premiums, the deductible (I would recommend the lowest which us 300 in your wife’s case) and 10% of all costs up to a maximum of 700chf per year. This is per person. If you are generally fit a well and you may want to take a higher deductible for yourself and reduce the cost of the monthly premiums.
If you take the 300 deductible your costs will be 1000chf per year plus the cost of the monthly premium.
The basic cover will be perfectly fine, there may be some alternative therapies that are not covered and private room in hospital etc but you can always upgrade to that by paying extra to the hospital should you need it.
Edit to add: I assume you mean 1000chf/month in your previous post. 1000chf per year would be incredibly cheap, I’d go so far as to say impossible.
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Thanks Guys, for all your help - getting clearer now.
premiums were 1000CHF/month not per year as I said above for the supplemental.
This is looking like a bargain, compared to UK private treatment
I refer you to my previous post
And whenever you look at the cost of medical insurance, also bear in mind that your employee's social security deductions (state pension, unemployment insurance) are just 5.05%, not the 12% of NI.
So as far as cancer treatment is concerned everything you want and then some is probably covered.
It's things like private rooms and prescription foot beds that you need supplemental insurance for.