will basic health insurance cover my injury from living abroad?

hi

i am Swiss citizen that lived abroad for a long time and is returning to Switzerland now.

on my last day abroad, i fell on the stairs at home and injured my knee. i need a surgery otherwise i cannot walk again.

stupidly, i have no insurance during this gap period , as i quit all insurances abroad

this means i would have to pay an insane amount of money where i am for the surgery. currently, i am in a knee cast.

my question is:

if i return to Switzerland tomorrow (Anmeldung), can i go to the hospital and will they fix my knee?

or will they not because it was an accident and it needs accident insurance? or will health insurance cover a knee surgery to allow me to walk again?

or will they say 'no' because i hurt my knee before i had Swiss insurance?

to me it seems that walking is not a luxury and so the basic health insurance should cover, but i am not sure

i hope someone here knows

thank you

What you had is an accident, not an illness.

Are you working? If so you will be covered by the accident insurance of your employer (this is the best situation to be in).

If you are not working, then coverage will be through a supplement (obligatory) to your health insurance.

I have no idea whether this covers previous injuries such as you have.

Without knowing the country you come from and what kind of healthcare system you were in it's difficult to advise

Well, I do not know for sure but I would think you would be covered by the basic insurance because the accident happened before you became a Swiss resident and therefore it is more like a "preexisting condition". You could not have had "accident insurance" in the Swiss meaning of it if you were not resident at the time

Yes, but being abroad and not under the Swiss system that distinction has no meaning?

To the OP, in any case, the order of things to do is

A) sign up with the "commune" where you arrive to declare yourself resident (I presume you have your new address/rental or residential property and all that)

B) call the health insurance company you will sign up with and make the contract

C) clarify with them whether they cover your treatment under the basic insurance scheme - this should not depend on the company

D) go to the doctor, according to your new health insurance

Since steps A and B are non-optional, you might as well do them ASAP and then you can get a clear answer. If you need more help you can call the respective cantonal health authority which usually enforces basic insurance coverage