anyone have experience with Swica health insurance ? all opinions welcome
Hey all,
it seems many local swiss residents (around me) have swica. and i have been told that swica could advance u money for heathcare payment, and most of other issurance companies only do refund.
also for the same franchise, swica 's offer is not in cheeper range but not in the highest range neither.around 70_80% for my general impression.
Good, pay claims promptly within 2 weeks.
Either bills direct sent to them, then they send you bill for your portion.
If you receive bill from medical provider then you give to them, they pay you their portion within 2 weeks to you. Normally the bill you receive allows 3 or 4 weeks to pay so by then you have received the SWICA portion.
But no idea what your question is?
his question is about some pratical experences with swica. so he could make a decision whether affilate to swica. ''my guess"
I've been with SWICA for about 4 years and have been completely happy with them. I haven't needed very much medical care, but when I have, they have been absolutely perfect. They also pay a large sum towards my gym (800CHF) which is nice. I don't have a primary care physician (GP), so their medical centre in Zurich (Wiedikon) is perfect and has a selection of specialties. (I even had physio there) You can't really judge on costs and franchise, as that is up to the scheme you choose.
Hey all,
thanks for your feedback here.
I am currently looking to change to Swica, as there service and user friendliness of website / app / telemed i have heard are great compared to others ( okay sales pitch at company insurance info day)
In Basel however, friends who i have spoke to didnt really seem aware of them, hence why i turned to here.
As to there already being existing information on the boards relating to Swica, i had read those, but they just raised more questions.
One good thing of them, is that you can have all the forms and communications in English.
All well and good reference the gym membership but how much do you pay if you don't mind me asking.
Very good point, what does a gym membership cost around here ? Even more interested if it is part reimbursed.
What plan would you be on with Swica
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ox67bw3meg...A%202.png?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kxqmoa57pq...A%201.png?dl=0
Doesn't look to bad price wise tbh. Any hints on franchise ? I know the idea, i am just looking for what people go with
I've been with Swica for the last 3 years and while they were not the cheapest option, I have been very satisfied with their service.
I used to have a Swica agent who was excellent but unfortunately, he is no longer with the company.
In addition, all of the people that I have spoken with are strong in English and all the documents sent to me are also in English.
I suspect we might work for the same company, though not in the same location... they have been at our place for the last two weeks doing presentations and one-on-one info sessions.
I have decided to make the switch after talking to them and receiving a very detailed information pack in perfect English. Slightly more expensive than my current insurer (Avanex), but not excessively so, and the coverage is slightly better in most areas. The key selling point for me, given that I will move to a higher age bracket in the near future, was that the premium does not increase because of your age once you are in the plan.
Suffice to say, I am on the top scheme (Which my company actually pays for), which costs about 500CHF a month and I have a 300CHF franchise. Obviously cheaper schemes would not pay so much towards the gym, but the service should be similar.
I used to have Swica basic and supplementary, but have since cancelled the supplementary.
Reason is that Swica seems to be the only one that applies the franchise across everything including the supplementary.
Eg., you buy the basic with franchise of Fr.1500. Unlike other insurers, this franchise applies to the supplementary cover as well. So for certain things that other insurers reimburse from the bottom like spectacles or massages and alternative treatment, the franchise applies.
I regularly seek alternative treatment for my bad back. Visana pays 80% from zero. Swica will apply the franchise and pay nothing until I hit the franchise.
Of course there is an advantage to this because I can hit the franchise faster. But I almost never have any other medical cost except that bad back, so this did not make sense to me, even with the Fr.800 gym reimbursement (others give Fr.200-400).
Before choosing Swica supplementary, please make sure you understand how their franchise works.
I can only comment on Swica accident insurance which may or may not help.
I had a serious accident 2 years ago and they were fantastic from start to present day.
My family and I have been with SWICA for 3 years.
All documents from SWICA are written in English, which is rare in CH. When we receive a bill for medical treatment, we sent its copy to SWICA. It normally takes 2 or 3 weeks to receive a related refund statement telling clearly how much SWICA share to pay and how much we share to pay, and meanwhile to have the refund in our bank account.
In our case, SWICA pays 50% of any yearly membership card for sport, but the total amount per year is limited up to CHF 700 per person.
It's case by case. It's better to have an appointment with a SWICA agent by calling its helpline. I had an impression you would probably have a better option even though under the same condition as someone else with SWICA (not my experience but heard). I mean it is negotiable for some part.
After considering Assura I'm not going with Swica. The quotes i got was 188 for the basic insurance and 240 for the next level up, that includes world wide coverage, 500 chf towards gym card, 200 towards glasses, etc etc.
Considering i now pay 260 for the BASIC insurance with Saints, this is not only slightly cheaper but way better.
The fact that its all in english is also very appreciated.
As I mentioned above, please check how their franchise works as Swica is different than all the rest. I am quite sure that you will get the Fr.500 for the gym, but to get the Fr.200 for the glasses I think you need to hit your basic insurance franchise first (this is where other insurers will reimburse you without applying the franchise). I had this experience with them when I tried to claim for various of these extras (alternative medicine, massage, etc.), but I don't wear glasses so I don't know about that.
I fell for that "oh just pay a bit more for the supplemantary and all these extra things are covered", but I failed to understand properly that some are only covered once you hit the franchise. In the end I switched to Visana.
Assura is awful and cheap for a reason. Customer service is non existent. All bills have to be paid by yourself then posted in. If you are lucky you get a reply in a few weeks.