Insurance premiums can take a significantly high portion of your income, especially if you have opted for a private insurance policy. There are some ways by which you can have reduced premiums for public and private policies in Switzerland.
Before selecting a policy, let’s first Identify the types of Policies offered by public insurance.
Types of Insurance Policies
There are four types of health insurance in Switzerland offered in the public scheme.
The free choice of doctor, as the name suggests, is a policy with a free choice of doctor; for even a regular headache, you can go straight to a specialist. This is an expensive variant than others, but the flexibility it offers is better than others.
HMO model is an insurance model where you must first consult a specific HMO practice if you are ill. Exceptions for this model are emergencies, annual gynecological screening, and check-ups by an eye doctor. A disadvantage to this is doctors are limited, but you can benefit from a high premium discount.
If you want a plan to pay lower premiums, then the Telmed model is suitable for you. This model involves a helpline that will give you advice and recommend what to do next. This model is the cheapest of all insurance models.
A family doctor model may suit you if you like to visit your family doctor first before visiting another specialist. There are exceptions to this, like annual gynecological screening as well as check-ups by an eye doctor. This is an expensive model, but it has many benefits compared to others.
You can quickly go for health insurance comparisons online to make a wise choice. Visit for German and Italian.
What are deductibles, and how can you benefit from them?
Deductibles are the cost-sharing that every adult in Switzerland has to pay for their treatment cost per calendar year. The insured person can choose between CHF 300, 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, or 2500. They can assume at least the first 300 to a maximum of the first 2500 francs of their treatment costs per calendar year.
There are some benefits to paying high deductibles; it can lower your insurance premiums. If you feel fit and expect not to need much medical care, you can opt to pay a higher deductible, but be careful, and good insurance is essential if something unexpected happens.
What is retention?
You have only to pay 10% of your treatment costs when you reach deductible limits during a calendar year. (Up to a limit of CHF 700 per calendar year). This is the same for everyone regardless of their deductible.
You can pay a lower premium by choosing to opt for the restricted choice of doctor or a health maintenance organization (HMO)
Taking out a Telmed policy can also be helpful If one has to pay low insurance premiums.
Increasing your excess above CHF 300 a year can lower your insurance premiums or paying a lump amount of fees upfront (you can get up to 2% for annual upfront payments.)
Also, people with lower income or unemployed people can pay a lower premium reduction. If you are eligible for a lower insurance premium, your cantonal authority will contact you provided you have filed your taxes. You can also contact your local canton to make some inquiries regarding the same.
Conclusion:
This article covers different ways of reducing the premiums of insurance. It also covers other types of models which Switzerland has. Deductibles and retention are also discussed, and some more tips about lowering your premiums are also covered. You must go for health insurance comparisons online to compare with 100% transparency.