Everything you need to know about being properly insured in Switzerland
Welcome to Switzerland! As anyone moving to Switzerland will have found out, one of the first things you need to arrange is your health insurance. But finding out how it all works when you're new to the country can feel overwhelming and stressful. Sanitas, a Swiss health insurance company, explains all you need to know to make sure you and your family are well protected.
Cover from the moment you arrive
Basic insurance is compulsory for anyone who lives or works in Switzerland. Once you move to Switzerland, you have three months to take out basic insurance.
However, this doesn’t mean that you don’t have to pay for insurance for the first three months, as your insurance starts retroactively from the date on which you registered with the local authority. This means that you have to pay insurance contributions - known as premiums in Switzerland - retroactively to the health insurer to cover you from the day you moved.
Which costs are covered under basic insurance?
Basic insurance ensures that you can count on basic medical care in the event of illness, accident (if included) and maternity. The Swiss Federal Health Insurance Act (KVG/HIA) specifies in detail which benefits are covered.
If you want more comprehensive cover, for example for dental treatments, you can take out voluntary supplementary insurance.
Supplementary insurance
While not compulsory, supplementary insurance plans include benefits that are not covered by basic insurance or only to a certain extent. Individual health insurers can choose which benefits they want to offer under their supplementary insurance plans.
Why supplementary insurance?
Given no one likes to pay more in insurance than they need to, you may be wondering why you would consider taking out supplementary insurance. Here's a couple of examples, so you can think about you and your family, and which supplementary policies are likely to benefit you:
Supplementary insurance for orthodontics
Marc Suter is a father. For insurance, he takes out a basic plan for his son, Tim. Tim is 12 years old and needs dental braces.
- Without supplementary insurance: Basic insurance does not cover orthodontics. As Marc didn’t take out supplementary insurance for Tim, he has to cover the cost of treatment himself.
- With supplementary insurance: With supplementary insurance, the health insurer will (depending on the individual policy) cover the orthodontics costs that are not covered by basic insurance.
Supplementary insurance for rescue
Kurt Schneider is a keen mountaineer and decides to go climbing in France. He is seriously injured. His companion calls the rescue services.
- Without supplementary insurance: Basic insurance does not cover rescue operations abroad, so Kurt would have to pay for the bill himself.
- With supplementary insurance: With certain enhanced policies like those offered by Sanitas, rescue operations abroad are covered up to 20.000 Swiss francs per calendar year.
Why not book an appointment for a free consultation with a Sanitas advisor to work out which plan would best cover you and your loved ones?
Who pays what
Under basic insurance, you have a premium, a deductible and a copayment. These represent the share of the costs of your medical care you have to pay yourself. Here's an explainer for the key terms.
Premium
The premium is the money you pay to the health insurance company each month in return for cover. The amount you pay per month depends, among other things, on the deductible you’ve chosen. The higher the deductible, the lower your monthly premium.
Deductible
The deductible is the amount you pay each year before the health insurance company covers a share of the costs of medical care (visits to the doctor, medicines, lab tests, hospitalisation, and so on). You can choose the amount of your deductible.
Copayment
Once you’ve reached your chosen deductible, you pay only a part of the costs for all further treatments. This is known as the copayment . As specified by the Swiss Federal Health Insurance Act, it is usually 10 percent, up to a maximum of 700 Swiss francs per calendar year. Your health insurance covers the rest.
Get health insurance that's right for you
Sanitas is one of the leading health insurance companies in Switzerland. Over 800.000 customers know they are in safe hands with Sanitas, thanks to innovative insurance products that can be adapted to suit different phases of life. With 19 different languages spoken at Sanitas health insurers, they are ready to help you wherever in the world you come from.
If you are new to Switzerland, customer advisors Josefin Manaa and Ercan Öztürk will be happy to help at any time. Get no-obligation advice now! Find out more in the video:
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