Hi, I have a B permit and live in Zurich, luckily no special medical needs, so far I've been doing fine with the basic health insurance (plus coverage abroad).
My wife and my daughter recently moved in, they are currently awaiting their B permits, and the first thing they'll do once they get it is the health insurance. Neither of them has special medical conditions, but the baby is 3-months old, so we'll need a pediatrician, regular vaccination cycle etc, while my wife might need some checkup that she postponed because covid, pregnancy, travel mess etc.
I was checking on comparis and, if I didn't do any mistake, it looks like we might save some money if we opt for an offer for all the 3 of us (family plan I guess). I would be fine switching to a new insurance, but what is the correct procedure? I guess I cannot cancel mine (Swica) before November, so the alternative for me would be paying two insurances until then?
Do you think it is worth trying to contact Swica and asking them to send us a tailored offer to beat or equate the internet price?
Can't do any harm to contact Swica, they have an incentive to make an offer if it means they get two more clients instead of almost certainly losing one at the end of the year.
Otherwise, I'd be very surprised if a family deal + double paying would be worthwhile for 5+ months (bearing in mind the insurance is backdated to when they arrived, not from when they get the permit), even if it is allowed.
If Swica don't make a decent offer, just insure wife+baby separately and then all switch for next year if the deal is better.
I have 2,500 frs deductible so it’s wildly improbable I’ll ever claim anything but I switched carriers December 1 because Assura were rude (they sent an apology: too late). Anyway I’m also eligible for NHS since I’m dual resident and also have Medicare + FEHBA but ... but I’m never sick. I did have an MRI (thank you NHS) but all it said was that I don’t have cancer after all.
Insurance is nice. But maybe the NHS is better. At least it gave me the answer I wanted.
Maybe you already checked this, but I guess it isn't possible to have (or even pay for) two basic health insurances at the same time. I'll bet this is forbidden and you would only be able to start a new one until you've ended the old one.
Imagine.. if you had a very expensive medical bill, which one would be responsible.
It happened in the past, not sure if it's still possible. Those people wanted to leave the old insurance, but that wasn't possible e.g. because they hadn't paid everything yet or the notice had arrived too late. Meanwhile the other/new insurance had started to bill them as well.
Basic health insurance in Switzerland is heavily regulated. They are not allowed to make profit on it, but they can make profit on supplementary insurances. So you won't get any deal on the basic insurance. Based on that, here are some questions:
1. Do you clearly understand what supplementary insurance you're paying for ("coverage abroad")? e.g., emergency treatment (when you can't wait to reach back to Switzerland for treatment) is covered by basic insurance. How much extra are you paying for it? The family pack deal is only going to be for that extra amount.
2. There is an option to have basic insurance with one company and supplementary with another. But it can get complicated.
3. To answer your question, you can add them to your current insurance and then cancel and move everyone together at the end of the year to the family deal.
legally you can only be insured by one basic insurance and not two Hence double billing although it might happen cannot actually really happen - meaning legally you can contest one of them as you're not allowed to be double insured for the basic
It's not always straightforward though as to which insurer needs to drop coverage.
You should of course ask SWICA for a quote for your whole family including any applicable family discounts. SWICA however is not the cheapest so if that's what you're looking for, use Comparis or another comparison website / tool. There's no exception for you to terminate your own insurance early just because your family has moved here. What would be possible is to insure wife and child with the new provider who you want to be and then cancel yours in time this year and switch yourself over to the same one with wife and daughter for 2022. Of course, you won't get the whole family discount until you've switched yourself too. Another tip to saving money is that there is NO requirement to take out supplementary insurance from the same insurance company as the basic insurance. Therefore, one can take out the basic insurance from one of the cheaper/est providers and then take out supplementary coverage from a provider offering what you need.