Frederick Jace
Switzerland’s universal healthcare coverage has a global reputation as one of the best with excellent professionals and an extensive network of healthcare facilities. But you need to know that it is made possible not by government funds, but rather by individual insurance. The Swiss Federal Healthcare Act mandates all residents to avail basic insurance from any of the government-approved insurance providers. The law also regulates the insurance industry to ensure that insurance companies keep premiums reasonable and provide a fair ecosystem for all stakeholders.
Individuals can perform a health insurance comparison to choose any provider and plan they want for basic insurance. The insurer must accept all applications and ensure equal coverage for all policyholders without any discrimination on income, age, or any other factors. This is a crucial aspect of universal healthcare coverage.
Basic Insurance Coverage
The basic insurance is uniform for all policyholders as mandated by law. It covers treatment and healthcare for illnesses, accidents, and pregnancy care, and childbirth. Prescribed services like physiotherapy, nursing care, and counseling are also covered, as well as hospital stays.
Additional/ Supplementary insurance
Most residents choose to opt for supplementary insurance along with their basic insurance. This requires a more thorough health insurance comparison as it is focused on specific individual requirements that are not covered by the basic insurance. If you prefer private accommodation for treatment, require greater choice in healthcare networks and professionals, etc., you can undertake a health insurance comparison and select those aspects that are missing in your basic insurance.
What should your health insurance comparison include?
Basic health insurance is still considered public insurance though you would be paying premiums as per your plan. It offers a wide range of healthcare services, and more experienced doctors, but with a careful health insurance comparison, you can reduce the costs of the premiums while ensuring complete coverage for your requirements.
Healthcare models
The standard basic insurance is quite extensive and offers immediate access to healthcare professionals and facilities. But if your aim for a health insurance comparison [more information in French] is to reduce premiums, you can check out restricted access models. This lets you reach out to only designated healthcare professionals first who will then diagnose and refer to higher care if necessary. This option helps you in reducing your premiums significantly. You can also explore the telemedicine policy in your health insurance comparison which requires you to first consult a designated healthcare professional on the phone, who will then direct you to the appropriate experts. Choosing such alternative models of healthcare is one of the best ways to reduce your premiums.
Deductibles and Co-payments
This is a major component of your insurance payments that you must be aware of during a health insurance comparison [more information in Italian]. Deductibles are the initial healthcare costs that you are liable for during the financial year. The higher deductibles and liability you choose, your premiums will be correspondingly lower. Further, make sure you increase your co-payments during a health insurance comparison, which is the percentage of costs you are willing to bear over and above your deductibles. There is a cap on how much co-payments you are required to pay, so you know your maximum healthcare costs for any period.
How to start your health insurance comparison
The first step in health insurance comparison is basic research. The government agencies periodically publish insurance data that covers the details of all insurance providers and policies so you can make the most informed decisions regarding your healthcare. You can access all the information from the government’s websites and keep them handy before embarking on health insurance comparisons.
But please remember that there are other aspects of the insurance providers you need to consider as well. This includes customer service, how responsive the insurance company is during emergencies, the level of services they provide, the speed of reimbursements, and even how flexible they are with payments in case you need help. It is easy to overlook them during health insurance comparison in search of the lowest premiums, but they are actually crucial to ensuring a hassle-free experience. Check out surveys conducted by private players who reach out and gather responses from a wide section of the audience to rate different insurance players which can guide you in making the right choice.
CONCLUSION
Health insurance comparison may seem overly complicated, but it only involves thorough research of available information. Moreover, there are many health insurance comparison websites available online that help you filter out insurance providers based on your personal requirements, get individual quotes from different providers as per your risk profile, and even finalize the best plan for you. An ideal health insurance comparison should be geared towards providing you the most comprehensive coverage balanced with minimal premiums. You can change your insurance provider only once a year for most plans, so make sure that you leverage every resource available in making the right decision for your healthcare.
