Health Insurance advice

amy w.

@amy-wolfe-1Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland

Health Insurance advice

Hi everyone. My boyfriend and I will be moving to Lausanne in September as he is starting an MA course there. I have seen that health insurance costs are compulsory. Can you advise on a good provider which is reasonably priced but decent enough? Thanks

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Rainer K.

@RAINER.KARNOWSKILucerne, Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland

camparis.ch you can check the diffrent prices

Patricia K.

@JOLLYDANCERAlpnach, Canton of Obwalden, Switzerland

Hi Amy, there is a website www.comparis.ch that offers a comparison of most of the health insurance providers. (And to my knowledge, they are all "decent", because they are very much bound by laws.) You can switch the site's language to English (see bottom of the front page). You put in your canton of residence and your birth year, and it will give you the basic rates (according to your age and canton) for numerous providers, especially the cheapest ones. It should also have a basic explanatory text on how the health insurance system works in Switzerland. If that leaves any questions, please ask me again. What you need to know is that the compulsory health insurance is legally bound to provide 95% of the same services, no matter what provider. You pay your premium, and then you pay 10% of every medical bill, but you also pay the first (fill in chosen amount of money) per year, which is called "Franchise" (French pronunciation) and can be between 0 and 2500 Francs. Of course, the higher your Franchise, the lower your premium. So before your health insurance pays 90% of your billed amounts of money, you first pay for your entire bills up to the amount you chose as a Franchise. If you work more than 8 hours per week, your employer pays for your accident insurance, otherwise you have to take one out through your health insurance provider. Basic health insurance includes visits to the doctor, hospital treatment, your yearly pap smear for women and all that. It does not include dental care (unless you have an accident involving your teeth - that would go through your accident insurance), nor prescription glasses, naturopathic treatments and the likes - you can take out supplementary insurance for that from the same provider you have chosen. Kind regards, Patricia

Toni S.

@DONATTOSKüssnacht, Canton of Schwyz, Switzerland

The Swiss government provides a calculator based on trusted data. Just enter your details:

place, e.g. 1000 Lausanne
your birth year, e.g. 1989
select franchise (excess), the higher the cheaper the insurance gets
accident insurance included? yes or no (if you work, usually you are covered by the employer)
add second person click "berechnen" (calculate) and that's it.

Here's the link: https://www.priminfo.admin.ch/de/praemien